Magic and Choices
by Sassylou
Summary: SEQUEL to Magic and Mistakes. Stryker Pendragon is almost all grown up. And now he has to make some choices of his own. Told from Stryker's POV. Now we get to see what sort of challenges Arthur and FemMerlin's grandson has to face.
1. One: Shocking News

**DECEMBER 3**

I quickly changed into a pair of basketball shorts and a tee-shirt. Then I left my closet and went back into my bedroom. My room was pretty awesome. Along one wall was a loft bed, with built-in shelves on the left side. On the right side was actually a little alcove that led to my door. I'd put a couch under the bed, facing my desk. I had my laptop on my desk, of course. And a large TV hung on the wall just above it. The couch was perfect for playing video games with my friends.

Speaking of my friends, I was supposed to be meeting up with them for my birthday.

I was sixteen, _finally_.

And somehow, I'd managed to convince my mom _not_ to throw any kind of stupid birthday party with the family. We almost always had family birthday parties. It was ridiculous, in a way, the amount of times that my family all gathered together. Not that I didn't enjoy it, but every now and then it was nice to do something without the rest of my family hanging around. So today, I was just going to hang out with my friends, maybe take my new car out for a spin.

A silver Jaguar.

I loved it. It was an awesome car.

I reached to get my keys from my desk, only to find them floating in the air in front of me.

I nearly growled. "Jaxson. Cayson. Stop it." My identical twin brothers poked their dark brown heads into my room, just as my keys fell to the floor. They were five years old, and complete demons. They were constantly trying to pull some kind of prank, with their magic. They were the only ones who had inherited Mom's magic.

"Hi, Stryker," they said together.

I rolled my eyes. "Why don't you two go use your magic to bug Bexley?"

They looked at each other, their green eyes sparkling with mischief. "Okay!" they yelled, and then they ran off. They loved annoying our sister even more than they loved annoying me. Bex _was_ really easy to annoy. And she always had the funniest reactions. She usually screamed shrilly and threw things, which was always funny because her aim was terrible. She could kick a soccer ball with deadly accuracy, but her hands were useless when it came to throwing. Her screaming wasn't as much fun, because she sounded like a banshee. Seriously.

I shook my head, heading toward the kitchen. I'd have to go through the kitchen to get to the front door, so I figured I'd grab a banana on the way.

I paused when I heard my mom's voice. "I'm kind of freaking out, Alex."

Alex was my stepfather. But he and my mom had met when I was like, three. I was about four or so when they got married. So he was the only dad I'd ever known. And I'd always thought of him as my dad. I mean, he'd legally adopted me just before Bex was born.

"Okay, Mac. You need to calm down long enough to at least tell me exactly _what_ it is that you're freaking out about. I have no idea what's going on."

Mom took a deep breath. "I'm…I'm pregnant again."

I covered my mouth before I could reveal my presence to my mother.

Pregnant?

Like I needed _another_ freaking sibling. Three was enough, thank you.

"I don't even know _how_ it happened," Mom groaned.

Dad chuckled. "You'd think after four kids you'd remember the process."

I gagged slightly.

"Shut _up_, Alexander. I know _how_ it happened. I just…We weren't even _trying_. I never miss a dose of my birth control. We'd only wanted three kids. It was a big enough surprise when we tried for a third and got _twins_."

"Well, you do know that birth control is never one-hundred percent effective, right?"

"Yes. I just…I wasn't expecting this. Five kids, Alex. _Five_."

"We'll manage. We have so far. Don't worry so much, Mac. I know this wasn't in our plan, but…Well, I'm not upset. How far along are you? What gender is the baby?"

"Two months. I've known for several weeks now, I just didn't know how to tell you. It's another girl."

"Well, we've got our three boys that we always wanted. We just got two girls as well.

I'd heard enough. Ugh. My mother was pregnant.

_Gross_.

I rushed out of the house, not even bothering with the banana I was going to grab. I'd lost my appetite. I had to go up the stairs nearest me, since my room was the only one downstairs and right next to the freaking kitchen, and go back down the other set of stairs in order to avoid my parents. But there was no way I was walking in on them. No way.

I drove to the rec center a block away, which had an indoor basketball court, where I was meeting up with my three best friends. Of course, because I'd been distracted by my mother's news, I was the last one there.

Adrian Ross stood against the hoop, without a shirt for some reason. His mother was African American, and he had inherited her dark brown skin, dark brown hair, and dark brown eyes. He kept his hair in a huge afro that he was quite proud of. Adrian was the crude one of the group. He and I had been best friends since kindergarten, when we'd bonded over Pokémon toys.

Then there was Tyler Bennett. He was tall and skinny, with blonde hair and pale blue eyes. He wore nerdy glasses. Ty was the guy to go to for homework help. I mean, we were all pretty smart. But Tyler was borderline genius. We had met in the third grade, where we sat next to each other all year.

And finally, there was Thomas Stewart. He was the shortest of our group, and the chunkiest, though I wouldn't exactly call him fat. His hair was just as curly as mine was, but his was brown whereas mine was black. He had hazel eyes. He thought he was the comedian. He really wasn't that funny. We'd become friends in sixth grade, during science class. He'd nearly destroyed the entire lab trying to be funny. But we somehow became good friends after that.

"Dude," Adrian complained. "What took so long? We've been waiting for _hours_."

Ty rolled his eyes. "You're such a liar. It's been fifteen minutes."

"Sorry, guys. I just overheard the grossest thing." I shuddered at the thought. "My mom's _pregnant_ again."

"Ew," they all said.

"Wait," Adrian said, holding up his hands. "Your parents still do the deed? They're _old_."

I pushed at him. I had to defend my parents. I mean, I wasn't _totally_ heartless. "First of all, please don't talk about my parents doing the deed. That's totally disgusting. Second of all, they're not really that old. Dad's thirty-seven, and Mom's only thirty-three. It's just…_gross_. And like I want any more siblings. Bex and the twins are more than enough."

"Suckage," Thomas said.

"I know."

Adrian shrugged. "Well, whatever. Can't change it. Let's get this birthday game for the new big brother started," he hollered, spinning the basketball on his finger.

I slapped the ball away. "Stop it. Jerk."

He just laughed. "Shirts against skins. Who's on my team?"

"Not me!" Thomas and I yelled.

Ty scowled. "Man, I hate being on your team. You suck, Adrian." Even though he was nerdy, he was actually a really good basketball player.

"Shut up, Ty. I'm a basketball _god_."

I nearly died of laughter at that one. And Tommy thought _he_ was the comedian of the group.

* * *

**Okay, so FYI, this is not the same house that they lived in after Mac and Alex first got married. When they found out that they were expecting twin boys, they decided to upgrade. They figured a twelve-year gap wasn't the best for boys sharing a room, and they only had three bedrooms in the last house. Their new house is pretty big, and has five bedrooms. Enough for all the kids (with the twins sharing). **


	2. Two: Jonathan

**DECEMBER 28**

"No, no, no!" I cried into the headset, just as the squire character nearly walked into a death spell. I had my character quickly throw out a different spell which would give my friend enough time to back away from the trap. "Ty, what are you _doing_? You're gonna get us all killed. Again. You're lucky I learned that slow motion spell."

Okay. We were nerds. Or geeks. Whatever. We all played this video game called The Five Kingdoms. We had our own little group of…Well, I guess it could be called warriors, who defended one of the five kingdoms in the game. My character was a powerful wizard, Adrian was the king, Tommy was the head knight.

And Ty was the freaking idiotic squire who always got us nearly _killed_ in this game. He could level up to a knight if he would just stop being so useless. His character was still like, only at level three. The rest of us had managed to move up the ranks of our character's chosen paths.

"Sorry!" Ty's voice said in my ear. "The button got stuck! I couldn't make him stop walking."

"Buy a new controller!" Tommy, Adrian, and I yelled. It was a good thing my bedroom door was closed, or I would probably get in trouble for being so loud. But the walls in this house were pretty thick. I doubted anyone could hear me. Besides, my bedroom was the only one on the first floor. The only time anyone ever heard me and got upset was if they were in the kitchen or dining room, which were really just down a short hallway from my room.

"Whoa, pause the game," Adrian called. "Nature is a'callin'! I, uh, might be a while."

"Ugh," the rest of us groaned. "Sick."

"Five minute break," I said.

"Better make it ten. No, fifteen!"

"Adrian!" we yelled.

Disgusting.

I took off the headset and opened my mini fridge, just next to my desk. I was going to grab a soda, but I was out. I knew Dad had just gotten some the other night, so I left my room to go into the kitchen. I paused near the bottom of the stairs when I heard my mom's voice coming from just inside the kitchen. She was talking to someone on the phone, on speaker. I was kind of surprised that she hadn't told me to quiet down if she was on the phone.

"Wait a minute. Did I hear that right?" she said, her voice surprised. Ah, she must have just answered it. I didn't even hear it ring. "You said you're...Jonathan? _Jonathan Essiter_? I didn't even recognize your voice. It's been…Oh my gosh. It's been sixteen years. You weren't at our ten-year class reunion a few years back."

I frowned slightly. Jonathan Essiter was the name of my biological father. Like she said, she hadn't talked to him since shortly after my birth, when he signed away his parental and decided he didn't want anything to do with me.

My mom had never kept anything from me about my real dad. I knew that she'd gotten pregnant while in high school, and that Jonathan hadn't wanted the responsibility of a baby in his life. So she broke up with him and became a single mom. She finished high school - with a newborn baby, which was freaking amazing in my mind - and raised me on her own.

Until she met Alex, anyway. And Alex had become my dad.

I mean, it wasn't like she never talked about Jonathan. She didn't talk about him much, but I knew a little bit about my birth father. I knew what he looked like and stuff. My mom wasn't the kind of person to keep that a secret from me. She had never tried to lie to me and make me think that Alex was my biological father. But I had only heard about Jonathan through my mom. Jonathan himself had never tried to get into contact with me or anything. Not once, in all these years.

So why was he calling _now_? What did he want?

"Yeah, I was at a skate competition in Florida, with my fiancée."

"I hear you're pretty successful in those competitions. Congrats."

"Yeah, yeah, I guess. Thanks."

"What's up? Why _are_ you calling after all these years?"

Jonathan took a deep breath. "Well, I'm moving back to Camelot, towards the middle or end of January. I'm setting up a skateboarding shop. And I've had some recent changes in my life that have made me think about some of the stuff in the past. So I wanted to know…I've been thinking a lot lately. I know that I signed away my rights, but I would like to get to know to my son. If that's okay with you. I'm not asking for custody or anything like that – I know I have no right to do that – I just want a chance to connect with him. To get to know him."

Mom didn't say anything for a full minute.

I was just as shocked. After sixteen years of absolutely _nothing_ – no birthday cards, Christmas cards, nothing – he suddenly wanted to get to know me?

What the hell?

"Jonathan, do you even know our son's name?" Mom asked quietly. "Do you know what day he was born?"

"Stryker Anson Pendragon." Well, he was mostly right. I did have a second middle name, Amala. But that had been added later, when Alex had legally adopted me. "December third. I _did_ read the papers I signed, Mac."

"I'm shocked. I really am. I honestly didn't think that you cared. I mean, you were the one who told me to get an _abortion_, Jonathan. Why are you suddenly interested in being a part of his life after _sixteen years_?"

Abortion? Okay, Mom had never told me _that_ before.

"I was wrong. I was so wrong about the abortion, and I'm glad that you never listened to me. I'm glad that you decided to keep him. I regret even suggesting it. I just…I have a _son_. And I want to connect with him. I want to know what kind of a kid he is."

"He's a great kid, Jon. He really is. He's just about the best teenage son that any mother could ask for. But…you've _had_ a son for sixteen years and you never did anything about it. You never _wanted_ to do anything about it."

"I know. It was stupid of me. All I'm asking is that you think about it, please. Just _think_ about allowing me to get to know him."

"That's not my choice to make, Jonathan. He's sixteen now. He's old enough to decide if he wants you in his life or not. I will not take that choice away from him. Just like I wouldn't take away his chance to _have_ a life. I'll talk to him about it, but it's _his_ choice. And if he says no, then that's it. I won't give a different response. Don't hold your breath, though. He's got a really good father figure in his life. He truly does love Alex like a father. And he's expressed about as much interest in you as you have in him. I don't know that he's going to want you in his life."

Jonathan sighed. "That's more than I deserve. Thank you."

I was starting to hate the kitchen. Why did so many life-changing conversations have to take place there? All I wanted was a freaking soda.

And why did I have to keep overhearing these stupid conversations?

Damn it.

* * *

**A couple things. 1) We're going to pretend that Camelot is located somewhere in California. I was trying to be vague about it on purpose, because I didn't want to have to say that this fictional town was in an actual state. But California is a pretty big state, and so I think this still leaves it pretty vague. 2) Merlin and Arthur will make some appearances in this fanfic, but not as many as they did in the last one. I know that's kind of upsetting for some of you. I'll put them in there as much as I can, but this is Stryker's story now. I'm hoping that if you're reading this fanfic, you've read the prequels. And if you haven't, you should go read those first so you really know what's going on. Magic and Love, Magic and Family, and Magic and Mistakes. Um, there was something else I was going to say, but now I can't remember. Oops. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy it. Stryker's gonna have some choices to make pretty soon. This is one of my favorite chapters so far (not that there are many to choose from ;) ). I love how Mac wants to let Stryk choose. She thinks that he has that right. She doesn't want to force him into anything that he might not want to do.**


	3. Three: Father-Son

**JANUARY 2**

I was lying on my back on my couch, staring at the bottom of my loft bed, and tossing the stuffed Pikachu I'd had forever up and down. Mom had mentioned her conversation with Jonathan to me a couple of days ago. Of course, she didn't know that I'd overheard it. I hadn't said anything to her about that. But she told me that the choice was mine, whether or not I wanted him in my life. She was okay with whatever choice I made, and she wasn't going to try to pressure me into anything.

I wasn't sure what I wanted.

I mean, he was my _father_. Without him, I wouldn't exist.

But at the same time, he hadn't really _wanted_ me to exist. He'd suggested that my mom kill me, before I even really had a chance to live.

Did I really want him in my life? I wasn't sure about that, but I _was_ kind of curious about him. I didn't know much about him, other than the fact that he and my mom hadn't spoken since my birth and that he was a really good skateboarder.

I _did_ want to know more about him. I wanted to know if I was anything like him. I knew that I had inherited his curly hair and grey eyes. But was my personality anything like his? Mom never went into much detail about it.

But _sixteen years_.

And I already _had_ a dad in my life. A good dad, who never treated me as anything other than his own son. I never felt like his stepson because he never treated me that way. I knew that he loved me just as much as he loved his biological children. Even though my last name was different than my siblings' last names, I never felt like I wasn't part of the family. I had always thought of Alex as my father, and I was sure that he had always thought of me as his son.

One of my earliest memories was of Dad giving me the Pikachu I was tossing – the same night I'd met the guy. I'd practically begged him to let me keep the toy because I was obsessed with Pokémon at the time. He'd given it to me without a second thought. I'd kept it ever since. It was something that was important to me, something that reminded me of what an amazing guy my dad was.

How did _he_ feel about all of this? What if he thought that I didn't want him as a dad anymore because I wanted to get to know Jonathan? I hoped he knew that _that_ could never happen. He would always be my dad. Always.

"Hey, buddy."

I looked up as Dad entered the room. "Hey," I said back. "Were your ears burning or something? I was just thinking about you. Kind of."

He grinned. "Can I come in?"

"Sure." Normally I would have teased him about already being in the room, so what was the point of asking? But I wasn't in the mood today.

He sat down next to me on the couch, pushing my feet out of the way to make room. Chuckling slightly, he plucked the toy from my hands. "I can't believe you still have this thing."

I shrugged. "It means a lot to me. I mean, I know I was only like, three or something at the time, but I actually remember you giving it to me. After I begged you to."

"I had no idea. It really wasn't a big deal to me. You were cute, and you were obviously a huge fan of the show. I knew you'd take care of it. And even if you didn't, you'd love it to death and get way more use out of it than me. It means a lot to me that you've kept it all these years." He studied me carefully. "You still can't decide whether or not you want to talk to your dad, can you?" he guessed.

I sighed. "He's not my dad," I said automatically. Then I shook my head. "I mean, he _is_, but not really. I don't think of him as my dad. He's my father, he helped give me life, but _you're_ my dad."

He smiled at me. "I am. And I will _always_ be your dad, in all the ways that matter. I want you to know that I will support you, no matter your choice. Whether you want Jonathan in your life or not."

"Won't it be kind of weird for _you_, though?"

"Stryker, don't make this decision based on how you think it will make _other_ people feel. This is _your_ life. He's _your_ father. You need to make the decision that's best for _you_. Don't worry about how I might feel about it."

I looked at him, at this man who had helped raise me, at this man who had given me everything that a father should give their child. "Dad, I do want to know your feelings about it, though. It's important to me."

Smiling slightly, he tossed Pikachu back at me, barely giving me enough time to catch the toy. "Are you worried that I'm going to feel pushed out or something? Stryk, you've kept this silly toy for thirteen years. I think our father-son relationship is pretty solid. If you want to get to know your biological father, get to know him. I'll support you, and I'm not worried about my relationship with you changing."

I smiled. "You know that you're pretty much the coolest dad ever, right?"

He smirked. "Of course I am."

I threw Pikachu at his head, but I was grinning. "Oh, shut up."

"How do _you_ feel about Jonathan's request?"

I groaned, pulling a couch pillow over my face. "I don't know," I muttered. "I mean, I wouldn't exist without him. But he also wanted Mom to get an abortion and _kill_ me. That doesn't exactly make me thrilled about getting to know the guy."

"How did you know about the abortion?"

I moved the pillow to look at him. He was giving me a strange look. I grinned sheepishly. "Oh, um, I kind of overheard Mom talking to him. Anyway, I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I share his DNA. I'm kind of interested to know more of my heritage. I do want to connect with him, to learn about his interests and talents and hobbies and things. But…my life is perfect exactly how it is. What if my life gets totally screwed up because I invite him into it? I don't…I don't want my life to change. And it _will_, if I go through with this. It's gonna change enough with the new baby."

My mom had told the whole family about the new baby the day after her conversation with Dad. Bexley was happy that she would have another girl in the house. She was tired of living with just boys. The twins were indifferent. It was one more person for them to prank.

Dad patted my foot. "Change isn't always bad, buddy. Just remember that. And remember that your mother and I love you. And we will support your decision, whatever it is."

I smiled at him. "Thanks, Dad. That helps. A lot."


	4. Four: Decision

**To Lilac Winters21: Thank you so much for the review! Hopefully I'll be able to continue doing a good job of writing from Stryker's perspective. Teenage boy is _not_ my area of expertise. And I'm glad that you're liking the plot. I'd intended to do this with Jon pretty much since he and Mac broke up in the last fic. **

**And to MarynMeier: I meant to respond to you in the last chapter and then I forgot. Sorry. Anyway, thank you so much for that awesome review that you left for chapter two. I appreciate hearing from my readers. And the reason that my grammar is usually so good is because I edit each chapter about, ten times before I even upload it. And then it gets edited at least once more. I'm kind of OCD about that. So I usually catch most of my mistakes (though some still manage to slip through - grrr).**

* * *

**JANUARY 13**

I walked into the auditorium, where our school's drama club met every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. I was running a little late, but so was the teacher, apparently. Yeah, I know. Guys in drama are totally uncool. But I had never really cared about being cool. I was comfortable being a nerd or dweeb or whatever else people wanted to call me for liking to act and play video games.

Although, to be honest, I hadn't heard too many people call me any names. It probably helped that my last name was Pendragon, and that people knew who my grandfather was. Pappy had a _lot_ of influence in the city of Camelot.

Besides, it was the one thing that all of my friends and I not only liked, but were all good at. We all liked to shoot some hoops every now and then, but Adrian was crap at that. I wasn't all that great myself. We all liked to play the Five Kingdoms, but Ty usually got us killed because of his lack of skill.

We were all good actors, surprisingly, so we had all joined the drama club together.

"Dude," Adrian said, when he saw me. "Why the weird face? Oh, have you finally decided about your dad? You know, your real dad."

I sighed. "That's the thing, though. I _don't_ consider him my real dad. Alex is my real dad, in my mind."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever. You know what I meant. Your biological dad."

I shrugged. Tyler and Tommy were walking toward us, so I waited until they were close enough to hear me. I didn't want to have to repeat myself. "I've decided to meet my biological dad. Jonathan. He'll be in town next week. I had Mom talk to him yesterday for me, to get it all arranged."

"That's gonna be weird," Tommy said.

I snorted. "Tell me about it. I mean, Alex has been my dad for almost as long as I can remember. And Jonathan, he's just…I don't know. He's never even tried to reach out to me until now. So I'm sure it's going to be totally awkward. But I'm going to give him a chance. At least he's reaching out. Better late than never, I suppose. I'm not guaranteeing that he'll become a regular part of my life. I guess I'll see how it goes next week."

"What's he coming to Camelot for?" Adrian asked. "I thought he was like, traveling the country or something."

"He was. Mom said he's been doing skateboarding competitions practically since he graduated. I guess he's moving back, with his fiancée. He's opening up a skateboarding shop here. He just decided it was time to settle down, apparently. I don't really know."

"So he has a fiancée," Tyler stated.

"That's not too surprising. I mean, it's been sixteen years since he and my mom broke up."

"I've always wanted to learn how to ride a skateboard," Tommy said.

I rolled my eyes. He was such an idiot sometimes. "You have _no_ sense of balance," I reminded him. "You would totally biff it, all the time. Bad idea, Tommy. You'd end up cracking your head open."

"I wonder if Jonathan has any other kids," Adrian mused. "Hey, Stryker, you might have even _more_ siblings. That'd be hilarious."

I scowled. I hadn't even thought of that. Mom hadn't said anything about Jonathan having any kids other than me. I had no idea if I had more half-siblings or not. "That'd be weird. Four is enough. More than enough. I doubt that he does, though. I mean, if his girlfriend or fiancée or whatever got pregnant, he'd probably just tell her to get an abortion."

Okay, that was a bit harsh. He obviously regretted telling my mom that. It still hurt that he had even suggested it in the first place.

"Eh, you never know. He might not have the same views that he did when he was in high school," Ty pointed out. "Don't be too judgmental. He might have changed since your mom knew him."

I shrugged. "Yeah, maybe. It's just that it's a little hard not to be a bit resentful about the whole abortion thing. If he'd gotten his way, I wouldn't be alive. I kind of don't feel very –" I broke off, seeing one of the girls in my sophomore class. She was probably the _best_ actress in the drama club.

She was also the hottest.

Mallory White had long, wavy, light brown hair. She usually kept it in a French braid. Her eyes were a deep green, set into olive skin. She seriously looked like a model.

I was completely in love with her.

Okay, not in _love_. But I had a major crush on her. And the worst part was that I wasn't even sure if she knew my name. Sure, she seemed to send me secret glances a lot. But I was probably just imagining that. There was no way she could actually be into me the way I was into her.

No, wait. The worst part was that my friends knew about my crush.

Adrian groaned, noticing the direction of my gaze. "Dude, you're staring at her again. She's gonna get super creeped out if you keep doing that. You've got a stalkerish look in your eyes."

"I do _not_ have a stalkerish look in my eyes."

"You do," all three of my friends responded.

"Shut up. You guys are all jerks."

Adrian rolled his eyes. "Just go ask her out already. You've been crushing on her forever. Get it over with. Seriously."

I pushed at him. "I will, I will."

"Yeah, when?" he challenged. "Next year? She'll have a boyfriend by then. You know she will. She's not the kind of girl that stays single for very long. I'm actually surprised that she doesn't have another boyfriend yet. I mean, she broke up with George Chaplin like, two weeks ago. Dude, if you snooze, you're _gonna_ lose."

"I will ask her out," I insisted.

Adrian snorted. "No, you won't. You're just a giant chicken. You're too shy for your own good."

"Whatever." I moved toward the stage.

"Hey," Adrian called after me, "you know that auditions for the roles are today. Maybe you'll get the lead, especially if you whip out that amazing British accent that you can do. You know she'll get the female lead. And there's like, five kissing scenes between the two lead characters!"

"Shut _up_, Adrian!" I called back.


	5. Five: Meeting Jonathan

**JANUARY 20**

I tapped my fingers nervously as Mom drove. Even though I had my license and my own car, I'd asked her to drive me. For some reason, I just did _not_ want to go to this meeting on my own.

"Do you want me to come into the restaurant with you, Stryker? Or would you rather have me wait in the car?"

"Uh, maybe come inside. But could you sit a few tables away. Please?"

Mom sent me a quick smile. "Of course, little man."

I groaned. "Mom, don't call me that. I'm sixteen. It's embarrassing."

She just smirked. "I'm your _mother_. It's in my job description to embarrass you. Just be glad that I don't do it more often."

I just rolled my eyes. She did have a point, though. My mom wasn't actually all that embarrassing. She was pretty cool, most of the time. Except when she called me _little_ _man_. But she kept that nickname for when it was just the family around. She only ever did it in front of my friends if I was being extremely ornery or something. Usually, if she did in public, I deserved it.

It didn't happen very often.

"Mom? Thanks for doing this. I know it's probably going to be really weird and awkward for you. You know, since you guys…Well, yeah."

"Oh, Stryk. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

I leaned my head back against the seat. "It's just…Why did he have to ask for this _now_? I mean, you've got the new baby and everything to think about. That's weird enough. And now Jonathan shows up."

She glanced at me sideways. I could see a small frown pulling at her lips. "Are you upset about the baby?"

I shrugged. It was almost easy to forget that she was even pregnant. She wasn't showing yet. Then again, she was only three months along. "Not really. I mean, I'm not exactly _thrilled_ about getting anther sibling. But I'm not upset, either. Does she have magic?" Mom had been able to sense the twins' magic, when she was pregnant with them. I guess magic could easily sense magic. Or something like that. I didn't fully understand it. All I knew was that magic could do some weird and cool stuff.

Mom shook her head. "Nope. It seems like it's just the twins who inherited that. In our family, at least."

I chuckled slightly. "Isn't it kind of weird how the whole magic thing works? It seems to like identical twins. Jaxson and Cayson both have magic, and they're identical. Then there's you and Aunt Maddie. But Mamie isn't a twin, and she has magic." Yes, I still referred to maternal grandparents by the pet names I'd had as a kid. Mom's parents were Mamie and Pappy. Dad's parents were Grandma and Grandpa.

"I don't know how the magic gene works. There's no pattern to it, really. Your cousin, Rebecca, has magic, but Aunt Harper doesn't. Nathan has magic, but that's not too much of a surprise, since Aunt Maddie does, too. But Erica and Emily are identical twins, and only Erica has magic." My aunt Maddie had like, five kids. And I knew that she wanted at least one more. Nathan was eleven. Michael was seven. The twins were four. And Joshua was barely a year old. I wouldn't be too surprised if she was expecting again within the next few years.

I nodded, but I didn't say anything else. We had arrived at the Round Table. I took a deep breath, then opened the truck door. Mom got out and came around to my side. "Ready?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"All right. Let's do this." She gave me a quick kiss and ruffled my hair. "I love you."

"Yeah. Love you, too."

"And I want you to know that I'm proud of you. This isn't an easy choice, Stryker."

No kidding.

We walked into the restaurant together, but then Mom moved to a table near the back.

I knew which man was Jonathan right away. I'd never actually met him, but I'd seen pictures of him. Mom had some that she'd kept over the years. And she had her yearbook, of course.

I'd gotten my curly hair from him. It was black, like Mom's. But Mom's was straight. Jonathan's was just as curly as mine. His eyes looked almost green, but I knew that they were grey. Like mine. Although mine tended to almost always look grey, no matter the lighting. His skin was pretty tan, whereas mine was a lot paler. Another thing I got from Mom.

I'd gotten more of Mom's facial features, though I could see that I definitely had Jonathan's nose.

I sat down across from him. "Hey," I said, feeling totally awkward. _Hey_? That didn't seem like the right thing to say. But what _was_ the right thing to say to your estranged father?

Jonathan smiled. "Stryker. Wow. You look a lot like your mother. I'm glad you decided to meet with me."

"Yeah." An awkward silence filled the air. "So…I don't really know what we should do here, Jonathan. This is…kind of new to me."

"Me, too. Um, well. Why don't we order some lunch, and then you can tell me about yourself."

I shrugged. "All right." So we placed our order. "Is there…anything you want to know specifically?"

"What do you like to do?"

"Mostly play video games and act. I'm pretty good at playing the guitar, too. Dad taught me when I was little. I like the pop style stuff. Nothing too country or too rock. Right in between. I'm in the school drama club. I've got the lead male role. We'll be performing sometime in March, I'm not sure when exactly. Uh, I like to read. Not as much as Mamie does, but…" I trailed off. This was so beyond awkward.

Jonathan chuckled once. "I'm guessing you're talking about Merlin?" I nodded. "I don't think I've ever met anyone who likes to read as much as Merlin Pendragon. You're going by Pendragon, aren't you? Or did you change your name to Amala?"

"I kind of go by both. Alex legally adopted me when I was about seven. Mom and Dad decided to give me Amala as a second middle name, and keep Pendragon as my last name. So, yeah."

Another silence.

It was like that for the next half hour. We'd exchange a few sentences, and then there would be a huge awkward pause, and then we'd talk again. Same thing. We mostly talked about me, but I did learn a little bit more about him.

Like the fact that we had nothing in common.

I liked drama. He liked skateboarding. I liked video games, he liked poker. I liked reading, he liked drawing cartoons. I liked playing the guitar, he liked listening to screamo music.

I was so ready to get out of there by the time we were done eating and Jonathan had paid for the meal. He asked if we could meet up again.

I told him I'd have to think about it.

So we exchanged cell numbers. He told me that I was welcome to call him anytime, for anything.

* * *

**So Maddie has a lot of kids, which really shouldn't surprise anyone. She'd always said that she wanted seven. So far, she has five. Just like Mac. But anyway, I got off track a bit. Maddie and Mac each have a set of identical twins. Now, in real life, the chances of identical twins each having a set of identical twins is highly unlikely. That's not to say that it's impossible, just not very realistic. The occurrence of identical twins is pretty random. But this is a fictional story, and I can do whatever I want ;) Like I said, it's not impossible. Just not likely.**

**I hope that you guys like this chapter. I know it's totally awkward. I would imagine that the first time meeting your father, after sixteen years of absolutely nothing, _would_ be totally awkward. I'm not going to make this easy on Jonathan. He made his choice, and now he has to deal with the consequences of that choice. Which means it is going to take a lot of effort on his part to get to know his son.**


	6. Six: Mallory

**JANUARY 21**

I pulled myself up onto the stage. Adrian was already there, finishing up a homework assignment for English that had been due this morning. He very rarely turned assignments in on time. Neither Tyler nor Tommy were there yet. But that wasn't surprising. Tommy was never on time, and he was the one who drove Tyler to practice – Ty didn't have his license yet. Besides, we still had another twenty minutes before practice actually started.

Adrian glanced up at me briefly before looking back at his paper. "How did it go? Yesterday, with Jonathan?"

I shrugged. "It was…really weird. We didn't really know how to talk to each other."

"What _did_ you guys talk about?"

I shrugged again. "Mostly me. He wanted to know about me and my interests and stuff. We talked a little bit about him, but not much. He's opening a skateboarding shop just across the street from Avalon University. He and his fiancée are living in an apartment over the shop. He likes to draw, cartoon-style stuff. And graffiti style. He's planning to sell some of the skateboards that he's designed. We have like, nothing in common." I leaned a little closer to my best friend and whispered, "He did ask me, near the end, if I'd inherited my mom's magic."

"Whoa. So he obviously knew about her magic when they were dating." Out of all of my friends, Adrian was the only one who knew about the magic in my family. I'd told him when we were both in kindergarten, bragging about how my mom and Aunt Maddie could use magic whenever they wanted, and of course he'd thought it was awesome. What little kid _wouldn't_ think it was awesome?

What was _not_ awesome was the lecture we'd both received from my parents about keeping it a secret, when they found out that I'd told him. I, being a little kid, had come home the same day I'd told him and blabbed to my parents that I'd shared our family secret with my best friend.

Yeah, my mom just about had a heart attack at that little announcement of mine.

I nodded. "Yeah. Mom must have told him before they broke up. Our entire conversation was full of awkward pauses and stuff."

"Are you gonna hang out with him again?"

"I don't know. Like I said, it was weird. We exchanged our numbers, and he said I could call him anytime. I don't know if I will. And I don't think I'll meet up with him again anytime soon."

"I don't really blame you." Adrian sent me a smirk. "Hey, I'm going to totally change the subject now. Did you see which scenes we're practicing today?"

I narrowed my eyes at him, feeling my cheeks heat up slightly. "Shut up, Adrian. Of course I've seen which scenes we're practicing today."

His smirk widened even further. "So you know that you're going to be making out with Mallory today, right?"

"I won't be _making_ _out_ with her. The kiss is a cheek kiss, that's it. At least, in today's scene it's just a cheek kiss."

"Hope you brought some chapstick," he continued, as if I hadn't said anything at all. "And some breath mints."

I pushed him off the stage, which sent him and his homework to the floor. "Shut up."

"Whoa, dude," Tommy said, as he and Ty walked up to the stage. Holy cow. They were _early_ to practice for once. That never happened. Well, okay, it happened once in a blue moon. "What's with all the hostility?"

"Nothing. Adrian's just being stupid."

"As usual," Ty said. He got up on the stage. "I don't get why Miss King makes us all come to every practice. I'm not even _in_ any of the scenes we're going over today. Why do I have to be here?"

"I think she still expects you to be working on your scenes, even if they're not the focus for the day," I commented.

Adrian smirked, still on the floor in front of the stage. "Personally, I'm glad that I'm not in eighty percent of the play, like Stryk here. And I'm so glad that I don't have to make out with my secret crush - who still hasn't been asked out - in front of _everybody_, for the first time. _Today_."

I threw my backpack at my supposed best friend. "I hate you. You know that, right?"

"I know."

"You haven't asked her out yet, Stryker?" Ty wanted to know. "Come on, man. You said you were going to do it yesterday."

"I know, I know. I will. I'm going to do it right after practice today."

My friends all snorted, shaking their heads. They obviously didn't believe me. "Do it right now," Adrian demanded, settling back on his elbows. "Seriously. Don't put it off any longer. Look, she just walked in, and she's got her arms way overloaded with prop boxes. Perfect opportunity. Go help her, and then _ask her out_."

I gulped, opening my mouth to protest, but Tyler pushed me off the stage, and then Adrian kicked my shin from the ground.

"Go," he hissed.

If I didn't go, they would just make a scene.

I approached her. "Hey, Mallory. Need some help with that stuff?"

She sighed in relief. "Oh, thank goodness. Yes, please. I can barely see where I'm going." She gave me about half of her load, smiling brilliantly. I may have forgotten to breathe for a few seconds. She really was beautiful. "Oh, that is so much better. Thanks, Stryker."

She knew my name.

Holy crap.

_She knew my name_.

"Anytime. So, where to?"

"Backstage."

I nodded, and we walked in that direction. "Hey, Mallory."

"Yeah?"

"I was wondering…_Doyouwanttogooutwithme_?" I gushed. Then I wanted to slap myself. That was way too fast. There was no way she would have understood that. I took a deep breath and started again. "Sorry. Do you...want to go out with me? We could...catch a movie or something. If you...want." I gulped nervously, setting down the boxes I'd been carrying. There, I'd said it. It was up to her now.

Mallory smiled widely. "_Finally_. I'd love to."

"Wait. Really?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah. You're a really sweet guy, Stryker. And totally hot. And talented. And smart. I was about ready to ask _you_ out. By the way, I'm totally excited about our scenes today. Thanks for helping me with the props. I've just got one more box in the car. Be right back, and then I'll give you my cell number and we can plan a time to go see a movie."

I stared at her as she walked away.

Did that _really_ just happen?


	7. Seven: Babysitting

**FEBRUARY 7**

I looked up from my phone as Bexley pounded down the stairs. I had just put a movie in for the twins in the home theater, and I was standing outside the room, texting my girlfriend. Mal and I had officially been dating for one week now.

Bex had her duffle bag in one hand, and her pillow and a soccer ball in the other. She had her medium-length hair pulled into its usual ponytail. She had gotten Dad's reddish-brown hair and Mom's blue eyes. Like Mom, she was a little taller than most girls her age. But not freakishly tall.

And she'd gotten Mom's attitude. _Definitely_ Mom's attitude.

"Where are you going?"

She chomped her gum. She was almost always chewing gum. It was pretty obnoxious. "Vanessa's. I'm spending the night. Remember? I was talking to Mom about it last night at dinner."

"Oh, right. Well, I can't drop you off. You know that, right? I'm babysitting while Mom and Dad are shopping for the nursery, and I can't leave the twins alone."

She popped her gum at me. "Don't need you to, big bro. Ness's mom is picking me up. See you later, dummy."

And she just had to insult me. "How is it that a nine-year-old can be so obnoxious?" I asked myself.

It wasn't like Bex and I didn't really get along. We got along just fine, most of the time. There were times that she annoyed the crap out of me. But we didn't fight very often. I usually had a bigger problem with the twins, because they were always trying to pull some kind of prank on me. Which usually resulted in them either stealing or destroying my stuff.

"Hey, I'll be ten in four months." Funny that she didn't argue about being obnoxious.

"Whatever." A honk sounded from the front. Bex spent the night at Vanessa's house a lot, and Tina - Vanessa's mother - was usually the one to pick her up or drop her off, if me or my mom weren't available. "Sounds like Tina's here to pick you up. Is she dropping you off tomorrow, or do you need a ride?"

"Mom's picking me up. Ness and I have soccer practice in the morning, and Mom's gonna pick me up after that."

"All right. Call if you need anything. Mom's still feeling a bit of morning sickness, so I might be the one to pick you up. We'll see how tomorrow goes."

She nodded and then she was gone.

Finally, some peace and quiet.

Bex was gone. The twins were watching a movie. It was their favorite, so they would probably be entertained for a while. I doubted that they would get into any kind of mischief until it was over, so that gave me about an hour and a half.

I could get back to texting my girlfriend in peace. I looked down, checking the text she'd just sent me.

**LET'S MEET UP AND PRACTICE SCENE 6.**

I groaned. I would have _loved_ to meet up her with her. Especially if she wanted to practice scene six, because that was one of the kissing scenes. But I couldn't. Not tonight.

Stupid Jaxson and Cayson.

**CAN'T. I'M BABYSITTING MY TWIN BROTHERS.**

**CUTE. HOW OLD?**

Mallory was a fan of kids. She wanted to go to college to become a teacher. I was pretty sure that she would make a great teacher.

Then again, I thought that Mal could be good at anything she chose to do.

**5\. THEY ARE NOT CUTE. THEY'RE BRATS.**

**I'M SURE THEY'RE NOT THAT BAD.**

I snorted. She didn't know the half of it, of course. They could be cute, if they really tried to. Most of my family thought they were cute. But they could turn into little demons with the blink of an eye.

**THEY ARE.**

**WELL, I'M JEALOUS OF YOU.**

**WHY ARE YOU JEALOUS OF ME?**

**YOU'VE GOT SIBLINGS. I ALWAYS WANTED AT LEAST ONE BROTHER OR SISTER.**

**IT'S NOT ALL IT'S CRACKED UP TO BE. IT CAN BE ANNOYING. I HAVE 1 SIS AND 2 BROS. 1 MORE SIS ON THE WAY.**

**YOUR MOM IS PREGNANT?**

**YEAH. 4 MONTHS. SHE'S CRANKY A LOT. STILL HAS A IT OF MORNING SICKNESS.**

**OOH, NO FUN. HEY, I HAVE AN IDEA. SINCE WE CAN MEET UP, I COULD COME OVER THERE TO PRACTICE &amp; HELP YOU BABYSIT. IT WOULD BE FUN.**

I tried not to panic. Having her come over to my house was a bad idea. A _really_ bad idea. My brothers would probably scare her off, and they could do that without even using magic. If they decided to use their magic…

It would be a disaster.

They had gotten the speech before they started kindergarten in September, about keeping their magic a secret. And they were good about that when they were at school. They didn't talk about their magic to anyone outside of our family.

But they considered the house their place to do magic. Even if we had visitors over, who didn't know about the magic, they would sometimes use their magic.

**BETTER NOT. MY RENTS WOULD BE PRETTY PISSED ABOUT ME HAVING A GIRL OVER WHILE THEY'RE OUT.**

I'd just sent my response when another text came in. It wasn't from Mal, though.

It was from Jonathan. I scowled. I _knew_ I shouldn't have given him my cell number.

**IF YOU'RE FREE, I'D LIKE TO GET TOGETHER NEXT SATURDAY.**

**MAYBE. I'LL THINK ABOUT IT.**

I wasn't going to make any promises. I still hadn't decided if I was going to keep meeting up with him. The last time was _so_ awkward. And I really didn't learn too much about him, except for the fact that I had nothing in common with him. It wasn't the first time he'd asked to meet up since our last meeting. I kept stalling. Maybe I would hang out with him again, but probably not anytime soon.

I sighed. Now I was in a bad mood. Maybe I'd just go watch the movie with my brothers.

**HEY, MAL. I BETTER GO. I SHOULD GET THE BOYS SOME DINNER. SEE YOU TOMORROW.**

**OK. BYE. MAYBE WE CAN GET TOGETHER TOMORROW, THEN?**

**THAT SHOULD WORK. I MIGHT HAVE TO PICK UP MY SIS FROM SOCCER PRACTICE, BUT AFTER THAT? ABOUT 4?**

**SOUNDS GOOD :)**

I put my phone in my pocket. Then I poked my head into the theater. "You guys want some pizza?" I asked.

"Yeah!" they hollered.

"All right. Keep watching the movie, and I'll order it."


	8. Eight: Performance

**MARCH 10**

I took my final bow, still reeling from what I had seen in the audience. Or _who_ I had seen in the audience. Tonight was the first performance of our play, and nearly my entire family had come to watch. Mom, Dad, Bexley, Jaxson, and Cayson. Mamie and Pappy. Grandma and Grandpa Amala. Aunt Harper, Uncle Aaron, and their daughter, Rebecca. Uncle Samuel, Aunt Maddison, Nathan, Michael, Emily, Erica, and Joshua.

I had expected to see all of them. I had invited all of them. My family was big on supporting each other. Whenever I had a play, or Bexley had an important soccer game, or any of my cousins had something big going on, my whole family was there to support us. So of course I expected to see all of them.

Who I _hadn't_ expected to see was Jonathan.

How had he even known about the play? I hadn't talked to him since January, not really. We'd exchanged texts here and there, mostly him wanting to meet up and me stalling and finding reasons not to.

We finished our bows and then ducked backstage.

"Hey, Stryk," Mallory said, putting her hand on my shoulder in concern. "Are you all right? You look a little shaken up."

I shook my head slightly. "Yeah, I'm…okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Um…Actually, no. I need to, uh, check on something. My biological dad is here, and I don't know why. I'm going to go find out."

"Oh. Okay." She stood on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to my lips. I had just reached six feet tall, and Mal was only about five feet four inches, so there was a bit of a height difference between us. "I hope it all goes well. See you later."

"Yep." I kissed her again, ignoring the catcalls I got from my friends. It was a pretty common thing for them to do if they saw us kissing. Mal and I had learned to just ignore them.

I went to where my family stood first. I'd go see Jonathan in a minute.

Pappy smiled and clapped me on the shoulder. "When did you learn how to do that amazing British accent?" he wanted to know.

I shrugged. "Sometimes when I visit Mamie after school, before you get home from work, we watch _Doctor Who_ or _Harry Potter_ together. I'd quote lines from them. I've been doing it for a few years now. I've gotten pretty good at it."

"I'll say," Pappy said. "Great job. And your acting is amazing."

I grinned. "Thanks."

"You were _really_ good," Mamie said. Then she got this sly grin on her face. "I bet you enjoyed those kissing scenes with your girlfriend."

I groaned. "Not you, too, Mamie."

She shrugged, looking entirely unrepentant. My grandmother had a bit of an ornery streak. It didn't come out very often, but every now and then…

I turned to my mother. "Did you invite Jonathan?" I asked quietly.

Mom frowned, her gaze going to my biological father. He was standing near the doors, looking awkward, like he wasn't sure what to do. "No, Stryk. I didn't say anything to him. I thought you invited him."

I shook my head. "No, I didn't – Oh, wait. I think I did mention being in the drama club and performing sometime in March. He must have looked it up." Huh. I hadn't expected him to do that. I was a little surprised that he even remembered me saying that. And, to be honest, I was a little impressed that he had.

"Do you want to go talk to him?"

I sighed. "I guess I should."

"Stryker," Mom said sternly. "That is not what I asked. Do you _want_ to go talk to him?"

I thought about it. "Yeah, I think I do."

"Then go. We'll meet you back at home. Your dad and I will order pizza for dinner." Mom leaned over and gave me a very quick hug – she'd never been a big fan of hugs. Or any kind of touching, really. So it was always a big deal when she gave me one. "I love you."

"Love you, too. And thanks for coming. All of you."

"Of course, Stryker," Aunt Maddie said.

"Keep up the good work," Uncle Sammy said.

"I will."

My family started to make their way out of the auditorium. I took a deep breath and wound my way to Jonathan.

"Hey," I said, stopping next to him. It was weird, I was about an inch taller than him. I hadn't really noticed that last time, because we'd both been sitting. And I think I'd grown just a bit since I last saw him.

He gave me a brief smile. "Hey. Great play. You've got some pretty impressive acting skills."

"Thanks. Um, I don't want to sound rude, but…what are you doing here?"

He sighed, like he was expecting me to ask that. "You mentioned doing a play in March. I was…curious. Acting isn't my thing, but it's _yours_. I guess I just wanted to try to find some kind of connection with you. And maybe that doesn't mean that we have to like the same things or anything. Maybe that just means that I'm here to support you in your interests."

I studied him. He _was_ trying, I had to give him that. He was trying very hard. He didn't know what he was doing any more than I did. But he was making an effort, and I had just been blowing him off lately.

"Do you want to meet up this weekend? Maybe get some shakes and talk?" I asked.

He looked surprised. "Really?"

"Yeah."

He smiled. "I'd just about give up on that."

"I know. I'm sorry. I haven't been the most…open-minded, I guess."

"Not that I can blame you."

"Saturday sound good? About two?"

"Sounds good, Stryker. Thank you."


	9. Nine: Smoothies

**So I'm giving you guys two chapters today, for two reasons. I didn't get one up yesterday, and I'm sorry about that. But I also don't know if I'll time to get one up tomorrow or the day after. I'll try, but I'm going to be pretty busy this weekend, so it may not happen until next week. Sorry! Hope you guys enjoy these last couple of chapters.**

* * *

**MARCH 14**

I pulled up to the Smoothie Shack and parked my car. I was running a little late, so I was guessing that Jonathan was probably already there.

Sure enough, he was standing just inside the door when I walked in. "Sorry I'm a little late," I apologized. "I had to drop off my little sister at her soccer practice on my way. She took forever to get all her stuff ready. Probably just to be a brat."

"Not a problem. Order whatever you want. I'll pay."

I nodded. "Thanks." I ordered a small chocolate shake and a small mango one. And I asked for an empty medium cup.

Jonathan gave me a strange look. "You like to mix them together?" he guessed.

I blushed slightly. Mom always told me that it was disgusting when I ordered it. Dad would make fun of me, too. I was the only one in my family willing to eat it. "Yeah. I like it that way."

He chuckled. "So do I." He changed the order to two medium shakes of each kind, and two empty cups.

Once we had our shakes, we sat at a booth. I shook my head as Jonathan started mixing the shakes together. "I can't believe we both like mango-chocolate shakes," I said. "I mean, I only tried it because my best friend, Adrian, thought it would be funny to dump his mango shake into my chocolate one when I wasn't looking. This was a few years ago, but I've been doing it ever since."

"I had a friend, in Florida, who dared me to do it. He thought I would be grossed out. He was pretty surprised when I actually liked it."

"Same with Adrian. He was pretty upset, actually. He'd been looking forward to watching me gag or something."

Well, there was one thing we had in common. We both liked mango-chocolate shakes.

"Jonathan, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why now? Why did you suddenly decide to get to know me _now_, after sixteen years?"

He sighed, handing me one of the hybrid shakes. "It's not like it's the first time I've thought about it," he admitted. "To be honest, that's one of the reasons why I left Camelot. Because I wanted to be a part of your life. Well, I'd always planned on traveling. But then there was you, and I…I was running away from the responsibility. I saw you once, you know, when you were about six months old. Mac had you at the lake, during the summer. I saw you, and I got scared. I found myself wanting to be in your life, wanting to do all the things that fathers do with their sons. And that scared the hell out of me. And then days passed without me reaching out to you or to Mac. Days turned into weeks, then months, then _years_. It just never seemed right."

"What made you change your mind?"

"Charlie, my fiancée. Charlotte. I met her six years ago, in Texas. She kept pushing me to at least try to reach out to you. She thought it was important."

That was a bit surprising. You'd think that most women wouldn't want their guys to be anywhere near their exes, which is a bit unavoidable when you have a kid with an ex and you spend time with the kid. "Really?"

"Well, yeah. She got especially pushy in the last few months because…Well, she's pregnant. She wanted me to connect with you. She thought that would help me to...I don't know. Connect better with this baby, too. That it would help me to be a better father. Obviously, I can't make up for all the years I missed. But I can start."

I nearly groaned.

Stupid Adrian. He just had to be right, didn't he? He was going to totally freak out when he heard. "So I'm going to get _two_ new siblings," I grumbled. "You don't have any _other_ kids, do you?"

He shook his head. "Just you and this little guy. Charlie is six months along. How far is your mom? I noticed that she was showing, at your play."

"She's about five months. It's a girl."

"Mine's another boy. How many siblings do you have? I saw a lot of kids with your family the other night, but I'm sure that quite a few of them were Maddison's. Harper probably has a few now, too."

"Actually, Aunt Harper only has one. She wanted more, but she had some complications with Rebecca's birth, so she and Aaron decided not to have any more after that. Anyway, I've got a sister who is almost ten, Bexley. Then there's the twins, Jaxson and Cayson, who are five. And the baby. I think Mom and Dad are going to name her Kensley or Everly. And then yours."

He looked very surprised. "Mac has _five_ kids? She always wanted three."

I shrugged. "Well, her third turned out to be twins, and then this last one was a complete surprise."

"And she's happy? With her husband and the life she has?"

I nearly rolled my eyes. "She's so happy that it's a little sickening sometimes. You probably know how much of a _non_-mushy person she is. She can get kind of mushy around Dad. It's…weird. Kind of sweet, but definitely weird."

He laughed. "I bet."

"But Dad's good for her."

"Is he good for you, too?"

I studied him, looking for any kind of bitterness or resentment or anything. I didn't find any. He didn't seem upset about my stepfather. "Yeah. He's been awesome to me. We're really close, and he's never treated me like I'm _not_ his son."

"That's good. I'm glad. I don't think that I would have been a good father for you, even if I had stuck around. I wasn't ready for that. I'm glad that your mom found someone that could be what I couldn't for you."

I nodded. I still felt a little awkward around Jonathan, but this meeting had gone way better than the last one. I was thinking that maybe I did want him in my life. I was realizing that having Jonathan in my life wasn't going to take away from what I already had. It wouldn't detract from any of the relationships that I already had.

It would add to my life.


	10. Ten: April Fools Day

**I am so so so sorry that it's been forever since I've updated. I don't know where the time went. I was having a bit of writer's block, and then before I knew it, it had been a few weeks. Oh my gosh. I'm seriously sorry. I'm hoping that I'll be able to put up a few extra chapters for you guys tomorrow, to make up for my absence. I hope you enjoy this chapter, though! I had fun writing it.**

* * *

**APRIL 1**

I stumbled into the kitchen, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. I'd stayed up _way_ too late, texting Mal. I didn't fall asleep until nearly three in the morning. But, to be honest, Mal and I did that a lot.

There was a box of custard-filled donuts on the counter, with a pitcher of orange juice beside it. Huh. Everybody in the house was just starting to get up, and there hadn't been any donuts or orange juice out the night before, so I had no idea where they would have come from.

Oh, wait. Mom had probably gotten a craving in the middle of the night, and sent Dad down to the store to get them. She'd been craving anything else with sugar, really. Her cravings during this pregnancy were pretty insane. She'd wanted sour gummy worms covered in peanut butter. Donuts were actually pretty normal for her. Sure enough, there were three missing from the pack of a dozen. Mom had definitely eaten some of them.

I grabbed one and bit into it. Hey, if they were sitting out on the counter, they were fair game in this house.

Bad idea.

_Really_ bad idea.

I nearly choked on the..._abomination_ in my mouth.

I spit it out into the garbage can. It wasn't filled with custard, like I'd thought. It was filled with _mayonnaise_. What in the world? Why would a donut be filled with mayonnaise? Who would _do_ that?

Not really thinking, I filled a glass with some of the orange juice and guzzled that, trying to wash out the nasty taste in my mouth.

And spit it right back out. That was _not_ orange juice.

It tasted like…_cheddar_ _cheese_.

What the –

Oh.

I should have known better. I really should have. It was April Fools Day.

My mom's _favorite_ holiday.

The rest of us in the house – other than the twins – pretty much hated it. We could never pull anything over on that woman. She was the queen of pranks. Not even the twins could prank her, though that didn't seem to bother them. They tried every year. Mom always upstaged them. Dad, Bex, and I had all given up a long time ago. There really was no point in even trying to prank her. She never fell for anything we tried. We'd even tried to work together, a few years back.

That was the worst April Fools ever.

Two things happened just then.

Bexley screamed at the top of her lungs, and Dad yelled, "Mackenzie Tess Amala!"

Ooh, he called her by her _middle_ name, too. He was mad. And Dad rarely got mad like that. I wondered what she had done to him. Some years, she used magic to pull her pranks. Some years she didn't. Last year, she'd used her magic to put all of the furniture on the ceiling. Throughout the entire house. It was ridiculous. And then the year before that, she'd put all of the keys and stuff inside jello. Seriously. And she was never content with just one prank. Oh, no. She would prank all day long.

It was seriously my least favorite day of the year, because of my mom.

"_Mom_!" Bexley hollered.

Just then, Mom came into the kitchen, laughing hysterically. She was wearing a pair of Avalon University sweatpants and a loose plain grey tee-shirt, but I could still the outline of her pregnant belly. She was six months along, so you could definitely tell that she was pregnant, and she tended to waddle sometimes. She was usually pretty cranky, too.

"Did you have a donut?" she asked, still chortling.

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Yeah, hilarious." Of course she'd known that I would eat one. Although I was kind of surprised. This was kind of tame for her. And she never did just one prank. She kept going until midnight. She had to have something else up her sleeve. Mayonnaise-filled donuts wasn't up to her usual standards. Not by a long shot. "You know Dad's not going to fall for the donuts and OJ, right?"

She shrugged. "No, but Bex will drink the juice. She won't eat the donuts. And you know your brothers can't resist donuts."

I shook my head. She had a point, though. Those boys had a _major_ sweet tooth. Both of them. And donuts were their absolute favorite. Bex, on the other hand, tried to stay away from sugary stuff. She'd eat some every now and then, but most of the time, she didn't care for donuts and stuff. "You are completely evil. What did you do to Bex and Dad to get such reactions out of both of them? And don't tell me you forgot about the twins."

"Dad got a face full of chicken bouillon in the shower. I put it in the showerhead last night. Probably not the most pleasant thing in the world. And I drew a spider on Bex's toilet paper roll." She was quite proud of herself.

I chuckled. "It doesn't take much with Bex."

She smirked. I'm telling you, my mother had a black spot in her heart. She really did. "It really doesn't. And the twins…I've magicked them to look like girls. I'll take the spell off before they go anywhere, but they're going to get quite a surprise when they wake up, which should be any minute."

It was pretty amazing that they weren't already awake. Somehow, they had managed to sleep through my sister's banshee scream. Then again, they were _really_ heavy sleepers. Mom usually woke them up by tickling their feet – they were extremely ticklish.

"How are they going to wake up if you're in here?" I asked.

Mom wiggled her fingers at me. "Magic."

"Ah."

From upstairs, I heard the twins yell, "We're _girls_!"

"Okay, where did you get this evil streak of yours? You certainly didn't get it from Mamie or Pappy."

"Oh, they can both be a little evil every now and then."

I shook my head again, turning back toward my room. I didn't see the saran wrap stretched across my doorway until I'd already run straight into it, which nearly caused me to fall flat on my butt.

Mom burst out in laughter.

She must have used her magic to put it up while we were talking, because it had _not_ been there when I'd left my bedroom earlier.

"Stupid April Fools Day."


	11. Eleven: Old Man

**APRIL 12**

I dribbled the ball, watching Pappy carefully. We tried to get together to hang out every couple of weeks or so. Today we'd chosen basketball, although I don't know why I agreed. I usually lost. And even though he was almost sixty, he was in really good shape.

And, sadly, he was just a little better than me at basketball.

"You're going down, Stryker," he said. "You are going to lose. You're already down by five points."

I snorted. "Whatever, _old_ _man_. I'll catch up." I probably wouldn't, but I had to at least _try_.

He narrowed his eyes at me. Then he rushed toward me and stole the ball from my grasp. He shot, making a hoop. "Oh, look at that. Nothing but net! How's _that_ for an old man?"

"Weak," I taunted, even though it had been a pretty good shot. "Totally pathetic."

"That's it."

Next thing I knew, Pappy was putting me in a headlock. Like I said, he was pretty strong for a guy in his late fifties. But I was stronger.

I pulled out of the headlock, once we were near the grass and not the concrete driveway, and tackled my grandfather. We wrestled on the ground for a few minutes, until I ended up on top. I kept him pinned down.

"Old person abuse!" Pappy yelled, but he had a grin on his face. "Old person abuse!"

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not even putting any of my weight on you. Not really." I had just enough on him to keep him on the ground, but that was it. It wasn't like I was hurting him. He was just being ridiculous.

I could see where my mom got it.

"Old person abuse!"

Before I could say anything else, Mamie came out of the house, carrying a tray with lemonade and probably some kind of treat. She always made some kind of treat when I came over. My grandparents totally spoiled me. Not that I was complaining. I loved it.

"Arthur, stop being a doofus. If you two boys are done rough-housing, I've got lemonade and cookies for you."

"What kind of cookies?" I asked.

My grandmother smiled at me. "Your favorite, of course. Double chocolate."

"You are the best grandma ever."

"Of course I am. Now, how long do you plan to keep my husband on the ground? Not that I mind. I'm just curious."

"Merlin! You're supposed to be on my side, not his!"

I smirked. "I don't know. I'm pretty comfortable where I'm at."

"Stryker," Pappy complained.

"Oh, all right." I stood up, reaching down to help him to his feet.

Almost as soon as he was standing, he put me into another headlock and rubbed his fist into my hair. "That's what you get for tackling me," he said with a grin.

I pulled away quickly. "Brat," I muttered. "I only tackled you because you put me in a headlock. You deserved it."

Pappy just smirked and went to sit in one of the deck chairs on the front porch. Mamie and I sat down beside him, taking some of the cookies.

"So, Stryker. You're almost done with your sophomore year. Have you thought about what you want to do after high school?" Pappy wanted to know.

I shrugged. "A little bit. I would really like to do something with acting. You know, become a famous movie star or something."

Mamie grinned. "If any of my books ever get made into a movie, you'll be the first to know."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Wait a minute. Weren't you saying something last week about some production company buying the movie rights to one of your books?"

"Yes. But nothing's for sure yet. They're just talking about it. It could be another three years before the rights are bought. But, like I said, if anything happens with it, I'll let you know. Is acting the only thing you've thought about doing? You've certainly got the talent for it."

"I've also thought about teaching drama. To high school or college kids."

"You'd be good at that, Stryk. You've got the right kind of personality for it," my grandmother said.

"But I haven't decided for sure just yet. I definitely don't want to teach the younger grades. I've done enough babysitting, thanks. I don't want to work with those little kids for a living. But high schoolers or college kids, those might be fun."

Pappy poured me a glass of lemonade. "Well, you've still got plenty of time to decide. How's your mom doing with her pregnancy? And Jon's fiancée?"

"Mom's good. Super cranky, but good. Jonathan says that Charlie's doing well. She's about a month further along than Mom." I glanced sideways at my grandparents. Neither of them had seemed to be too upset when Jonathan showed up back in my life. I hadn't really talked to them much about it. "Can I ask you guys something?"

"Sure."

"When Mom and Jonathan were dating, what did you think of him? Did you like him?"

Mamie sighed. "We did like him, actually. He didn't really seem to have much ambition in life, and we would have liked it if he'd had more of a plan for his future, but he was a good kid. And he and Mac were really happy together. Until…" she trailed off.

"Until I came along," I finished for her.

Pappy nodded. "Unfortunately. We didn't really like him after that, not with the way he reacted to the news. He didn't show any kind of concern when your mother was in the hospital, the same day she'd told him she was pregnant." Mom had told me that she'd ran her truck into a pole when she was driving home from Jonathan's. I knew that she'd almost lost me, and that Jonathan hadn't talked to her since that day. "He didn't even check up on her, as far as we knew. I'm sure that he did find out if she was okay, but he probably did it secretly. I wasn't very happy with him at the time. And I was really disappointed that he wasn't facing his responsibilities."

I nodded thoughtfully. I'd never really heard what my grandparents felt about my biological father. I was actually a little surprised that they didn't seem to hold any bitter feelings toward him. Then again, what good would it have done for them to be angry with him after all this time?


	12. Twelve: Champ

**So I'm giving you two chapters today to kind of make up for my long absence. Hope you guys enjoy it! Even though he's my character, I'm really impressed with Stryker. When I have kids, I want a kid like him. He's like, the perfect son. Let me know what you guys are thinking of the story so far. As always, thanks for reading!**

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**APRIL 28**

I sat down in the seat across from Jonathan. "Hey," I greeted. We'd been meeting up almost every weekend, since we'd met up at the Smoothie Shack after my play performance. It wasn't really awkward anymore. I was kind of glad that I'd decided to let him into my life.

I mean, we still didn't really have anything in common, but we did enjoy spending time together, even if all we did was talk. It was nice to get to know him and to be able to understand him a little better. Growing up, I honestly hadn't thought about him very much. And when I did, it was just this vague idea of him.

"Hey, champ," he replied.

I gave him a strange look. "Champ?" I repeated. It was the first time he'd called me anything other than my name. It was weird. Not a bad kind of weird, necessarily. Just…weird.

Jonathan shrugged. "Just trying it out. No good, huh?"

"I don't know. It's weird, but not bad. I don't mind if you use it. It's definitely better than _little_ _man_." I shuddered.

"Who calls you that?"

"Mom. She has for as long as I can remember."

"Ah. Well, Mac _would_ do that." He handed me a chocolate-mango smoothie. It was becoming a tradition between us, every time we met up, to get smoothies. And always chocolate-mango ones. "How's school going? You're almost finished with the year, aren't you?"

"Yeah. Just about." I shrugged. "It's going all right. I've got As and Bs in all of my classes. Although, I did just drop to a C in science. I bombed my last test, and it's killing me trying to get my grade back up to a B before the end of the school year. Science is _not_ my best subject. At all."

Jonathan chuckled. "It was never mine, either. Then again, there weren't many subjects in school that were. I passed all of my classes, but it was a close call sometimes. I had pretty steady Cs in most of them. It seems like you got your mother's brains."

"Eh, I don't know. I mean, I'm doing well. But not all of it comes easy for me. It's been really hard to keep a B in science. Mamie told me that Mom was getting almost straight As her senior year. And before that, she only did poorly because she _chose_ to." I shook my head. "My mother is a very complicated woman."

Jon laughed. "She's one of a kind, that's for sure. Her birthday's coming up in a few days, isn't it?" I nodded. "Anything planned?"

I swirled my straw through my smoothie. "Dad and I are writing a song for her. Well, Dad's doing most of the writing. He's way better at that than I am. I can't write songs. I can play them and sing them, but I can't write them. We'll play it for her when we all go over to Mamie and Pappy's house to celebrate. We're just doing a family get together. That's all. The usual, really."

"Family get togethers are pretty common for the Pendragons."

I snorted. "No kidding. It's nice, though. I kind of…like how close we all are. Hey, how's Charlie doing? She's what, seven months? Seven and a half?"

"Yeah, about. She's good. I've heard all kinds of horror stories about women being downright scary during their pregnancies, but not Charlie. She's pretty much the opposite. She's ridiculously chipper."

It wasn't fair. It really wasn't. There were some days that Mom looked like she was ready to bite someone's head off. "Lucky you," I said. "Mom's pretty scary some days."

"Charlie wants to meet you, by the way."

I was a little surprised. We'd talked about Jon's fiancée, of course. I knew that she was the one who had convinced him to connect with me to begin with. But it just seemed strange that she'd want to meet me, though I guess it shouldn't have. "Really?"

Jonathan nodded. "Really. We'll have to arrange it. As long as you're okay with it, Stryker. You don't have to if you don't want to."

I smiled. I'd heard a lot about Charlie. She sounded like a pretty cool person to get to know. "No, that's fine. I think I'd really like to meet her, too."

"She'll like that."

"And the baby? You guys decide on a name yet?"

He shook his head. "Not really. It's between Jasper, Roman, and Julian."

"Hmm." I thought about each of those names for a moment. "I think I like Roman best."

"Personally, that's my favorite, too. His middle name will be Charles, after Charlotte; that much we know for sure. I have a question for you. Do you know why Mac named you Stryker Anson?"

I shrugged. "Not really. She didn't name me after anyone specific, as far as I know. I think she just liked the name."

"It's a good name."

"I've always liked it." I studied him closely. "You're gonna do just fine, you know. With the baby, I mean. They're hard work, but most of it is instinct. You'll know what to do."

Jon arched an eyebrow at me. "Speaking from personal experience, are you?" he teased.

I shrugged. "Kind of. The twins were born when I was eleven, so…I kind of know what it's like to take care of a baby. Since they were twins, I helped Mom out a lot. Even though I was only eleven, most of it came pretty easy. I just kind of knew what to do. Anyway, don't stress yourself out. You'll be fine."

"Your mom was right. You are one amazing kid."


	13. Thirteen: Can't Play Favorites

**MAY 16**

I grinned, reaching out to grasp Mal's hand. She leaned her head against my arm as we walked through the mall. We were sort of on a date. It was one of those last minute, unofficial things. We decided to meet up at the mall, and we'd been wandering around, just doing a little bit of window shopping and snacking, for about an hour.

We'd been dating now for almost three and a half months. And it had been a great three and a half months. I really liked Mal. Really, _really_ liked her. She was the kind of girl that I could see myself settling down with someday. Getting married, having kids.

I was pretty happy with my life at the moment. I mean, Mallory was totally hot. And she was talented, and funny. She was just plain amazing. And right now, I was the only one of my friends with a steady girlfriend. Although Adrian did have his eye on a girl in our Spanish class. But there was only about a week left of school, so I doubted he'd start dating her before the summer.

And then, I was actually getting along really well with Jon. It was kind of nice to have him in my life and to learn about his life. It had become pretty easy to talk to him. And his fiancée was just downright awesome. I'd met Charlie a few days ago. She was super nice.

I was even kind of excited about my newest siblings, both of them. I was pretty sure that I was going to become the default babysitter for both kids, but whatever. I was okay with that. And, to be honest, I was kind of used to it. I babysit Bex and the twins a lot, when Mom and Dad went out on a date or something.

"Any news on whether or not your dad is going to be deployed?" I asked. Her father was in the Air Force, and her family was waiting to hear whether or not he'd be deployed.

She shook her head. "Not yet. We should be finding out sometime in the next couple of months. I hope he doesn't, though. It's been nice having him home."

"I bet. I'd hate it if my dad were in the military. I mean, I'm grateful that we have people fighting for our freedom and everything. Don't get me wrong. What your dad is doing is great. I just wouldn't like to have my dad away from home so often."

"It's hard." She smiled at me. "But my parents absolutely love you."

I grinned down at her. "Well, my parents happen to think you're pretty amazing, too."

She sent me a small smirk. "Of course I am."

I chuckled, shaking my head. "And so humble," I muttered. Then I leaned down to press a kiss to her lips.

Mallory suddenly pulled away with an excited squeal. "Oh, look, Stryk! It's a baby store! We should get something for your new baby sister."

I had not been ready for that kiss to be over. "Ah, Mal. We really don't need to. Kensley's going to have way more toys than she'll ever need as it is. Trust me. The nursery is more than stocked."

"Oh, come on. Let's pick something out for her, from the both of us."

I sighed. She was probably about three times as excited as I was about the new baby. She absolutely loved kids. "If we go in there together, shopping for baby stuff, people will think that _we're_ having a baby," I warned her.

Mal rolled her eyes. "People shouldn't jump to conclusions like that. And if they do, that's their problem. Come on, Stryker." And with that, she pulled me into the store, ignoring my protests.

She was obviously having the time of her life as we browsed through the store together. A huge smile was on her face.

"It's too bad there's nothing with her name on it. There's some really cute personalized stuff here. But Kensley isn't exactly a common name."

"Yeah, but she won't have to worry about being confused with anyone else. That was something I've always liked about my name. I've never met another Stryker."

Mallory grinned at me. "Well, it suits you perfectly. I've always thought you were pretty _striking_." She giggled at her own pun.

I rolled my eyes, shaking my head. She was usually pretty funny, but that was just… "That was super corny," I told her. "And not really funny."

"I know. It was kind of lame. Oh, look. Isn't this cute?" She held up a brown plush hedgehog. She pressed a button on its toe, causing it to make a sound like a child's giggle.

"Yeah, that is cute."

Which, of course, prompted her to get a cart and drop the toy into it.

"Whoa," I protested. "We're only going to get _one_ thing for her. We don't need a cart. Let's not get carried away."

She rolled her eyes, giving me a look of mock sympathy. She _tsked_. "You can't go into a baby store and _not_ get carried away, Stryk. It's impossible. Besides, we should probably get something for your brother, too. Jonathan's baby. You can't play favorites, you know."

I sighed. She did have a point, though. It wouldn't be fair to play favorites with my siblings. "All right, fine. We'll get _one_ toy for Kensley and _one_ toy for Roman. Just one each, though."

She jutted out her lower lip in a pout. She was super cute when she pouted. "Oh, come on, Stryker. Please?"

"Mal. They really don't need a lot, I'm sure. Like I said, Kenny's already got a whole bunch of toys in her nursery."

She sighed. "Oh, all right. Just one."


	14. Fourteen: Nervous

**I hope you guys like this chapter. I do. It's got some great moments in it.**

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**JUNE 9**

I whistled quietly as I worked on a wall display of skateboards. Instead of meeting at the Smoothie Shack or the Round Table like we usually did, Jon and I were hanging out at his shop today. I'd been to his shop before, but I'd never stayed for very long. But he'd had some things to do, so I'd offered to come over and help.

I noticed that he kept glancing at the ceiling, toward his and Charlie's apartment. He had been doing that since I got there. He was seriously nervous about the baby. "Jonathan," I said.

He looked over at me. "Yeah?"

"Calm down. It'll be fine. Her due date's not for four more days."

He sighed. "I know, I know. I just…The baby could come early. It literally could be any day now. Any _minute_."

"You'll be fine. You're freaking yourself out over nothing. What are you going to do with the shop when Roman is born?"

He shrugged. "I'll have to close it for a couple weeks, I think. I know I live just upstairs, but I want to get Roman settled into a routine before I go back to working. It'll be easier on me and the baby if I'm not running up and down all day, I think."

He had a point, but he would lose money if he just closed down for that long. "Hey, I could help out. It's the summer, so I've got quite a bit of free time. I could run the shop in the afternoons, so you don't have to close entirely. You don't even have to pay me." I got a pretty good allowance from my parents, and I'd always put a portion of it away into savings. I had worked part time last summer, but I had decided not to this summer.

"Yeah? Sounds good to me. But of course you'd get paid. I don't care if you're my son or not. I'm not going to make you work for free. You're hired."

I grinned. "That's gotta be the easiest interview I've ever had. How's Charlie feeling?" I asked, getting down from the stepladder. "Is she ready to have the baby?"

"More than ready. She's really excited."

I grinned. "Yeah, everybody at my house is pretty excited for Kensley. Bex is probably the most excited. She says she's sick of being surrounded by boys all the time. She's obsessed with soccer, so you would think that she'd be a tomboy. She's not. She's actually pretty girly. And Mom's not really girly at all, so Bex is excited to have another girl to do girly things with."

Jon nodded. We were quiet then, getting the shop cleaned up and organized. He'd just gotten a shipment of supplies earlier in the day, so we'd been working on getting it all put where it needed to go and changing around some of the displays he had hanging on the walls. We'd only had one customer come in while we worked, and we'd been at it for a few hours.

"Does the shop do well?" I wondered. "Do you get a lot of business?"

Jon shrugged. "It's pretty good. Today's actually a really slow day for some reason. I think I made a really good choice in locations, though. Skateboarding is pretty popular with the college kids, and it's good to be right across from the campus."

"I bet. A skateboard is cheaper than a car, and faster than walking. And you can ride a skateboard on the sidewalks. It'd be great for getting between classes. I might need to think about learning to skateboard," I said thoughtfully.

Jon looked over at me. "Do you want to learn? I could teach you."

I started to grin. I'd never really thought about learning to ride a skateboard before. But it might be kind of fun. And it was something that Jon and I could do together. "Yeah," I said. "I think I'd like that."

"Wanna start right now?"

I looked around. We still had several boxes to unpack and one more display to put up. "Shouldn't we finish this first? And maybe it would be better to wait until after Roman is born. I don't want to take time away from him."

He flapped a hand at me. "I can finish with these boxes tonight, no biggie. And it really won't take you very long to get the basics. No more than a week, if that long."

"All right."

"Hang on. I'll be right back." He disappeared through the back door that led upstairs to his apartment. He came back just a few minutes later, holding a scratched up skateboard. "This was my first skateboard. You can have it if you want."

I was surprised. "Wait, seriously? You don't want to keep it for Roman?"

Jon gave me a crooked grin. "I know I wasn't a part of your life for a _really_ long time, but you're still my oldest son. The skateboard's yours, if you want it. I was thinking of giving Roman my competition board, if he wants it when he's older."

I reached out and took the board from him, without saying a word. I didn't really know _what_ to say. I was feeling a little overwhelmed, to be honest. Since I'd met Jon, our relationship had almost been like that of an uncle and a nephew. I'd never really thought of him as a _dad_. But this…

This was a father-son moment.

And it didn't change what I had with Alex. Alex would always be my dad. But it was nice to have something similar with Jon, too. Not quite the same, but similar.

"Sorry it's a little scruffy. It's been through a lot." Jon scratched the back of his head, looking embarrassed. He probably thought that I wasn't saying anything because I thought it was lame or something.

I shook my head. "No, it's fine. It's great, in fact. Thanks." I put the board on the floor, grinning at Jonathan. "All right. What's first?"

He grinned back. "First we find out which foot you should put first. You want the foot that you're most comfortable with in front."

And so Jon started teaching me how to ride a skateboard.


	15. Fifteen: Roman

**Here's another one for today. I'm still trying to make up for the time that I wasn't posting, so I'm giving you guys multiple chapters in a day. Hope you're enjoying them! Please review. I love to hear your thoughts.**

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**JUNE 15**

I glanced over at Mom as I drove us to the hospital. She had wanted to drive, but Dad wouldn't allow it. She was eight and a half months pregnant. Dad and I both figured it wouldn't be the best idea to have her driving. Of course, she resented that fact. And now she was sitting in the passenger seat of my car, her arms folded over her large stomach, and pouting.

My mom was a master at pouting.

I'd heard stories of how she could get Pappy to cave with a puppy-dog pout. She tried it every now and then on Dad, but he seemed to be immune to it. Which was actually how she ended up _not_ being the one to drive to the hospital. She'd lost the argument, even with her famous puppy pout.

"You sure this isn't going to be too weird for you?" I wanted to know.

"What?" she asked. She seemed surprised enough to stop pouting. "Going to visit my ex and the biological father of my oldest child? Nah."

"And his fiancée and new baby?" Roman had been born about two hours earlier. When I'd told Mom that I was planning to stop by and see the baby, she'd offered to come with me. Dad had seemed totally cool with it, too, oddly enough.

Mom shrugged. "It's not going to be weird for me. I have my family, and Jon has his. And we share you, so our lives are going to overlap. I'm happy for Jonathan. And I'm really glad that you're able to build a relationship with him. I had never really _wanted_ him out of your life to begin with."

"And you're absolutely sure that it doesn't bother Dad, me spending time with Jon?" Despite the talk that we'd had before I'd even met Jon the first time, I still wasn't entirely convinced that it didn't bother Dad at least a little bit.

Mom shook her head, grinning. "Stryker, your dad knows that you love him like a father. He knows that he's not going to be replaced in your life. Stop worrying about it. If your dad's not worried, then you shouldn't be, either."

"I know. I just can't help it."

"I know."

I pulled into the parking lot of the hospital and parked my car. Then I hurried around to Mom's side to help her out.

She scowled as I did. "I feel like a whale. I'm so _fat_. I hate being so fat."

I rolled my eyes as I grabbed my backpack from the backseat and locked the car. "Seriously? You're not fat, Mom."

"I'm huge. I'm gigantic."

She was ridiculous, was what she was. Anybody could tell that her big stomach was from a pregnancy. My mom was incredibly fit. She always had been. "You are not fat. Please stop saying that you are."

She continued to grumble about being fat as we made our way into the hospital and to Charlie's room.

Charlie was sitting up in bed, holding a bundled baby in her arms, when we walked in. Her blonde hair had been pulled up into a messy ponytail. Jon was leaning over her, smiling widely.

I grinned. "I hope you guys don't mind that I brought someone with me," I said.

Charlie looked up, and then a huge smile spread across her face, reaching all the way into her brown eyes. "Of course not, Stryker. This must be Mackenzie. It is _really_ amazing how much Stryker looks like you, Mackenzie. Wow."

"Please, call me Mac. I wanted to wish you both congratulations on the little guy."

"Thank you. Same to you." Charlie nodded to Mom's protruding stomach.

Jon's smile had turned a little awkward when he saw Mom. Which was understandable. After all, he hadn't _really_ talked to her since he signed away his parental rights to me. I was still surprised that Mom didn't seem to feel awkward at all. _I_ would have. "Hey, Mac. It's good to see you again. You're looking good."

Mom scrunched up her nose. "I look _fat_."

"Mom, stop. This is Charlotte Anderson. But she prefers to be called Charlie," I introduced. I looked over at Jon thoughtfully. "You have a thing for women who like to be called by guy names."

Jon blushed slightly, while Mom and Charlie both laughed.

"And don't forget Andy, who you dated before me," Mom said. "Short for Andrea."

Charlie shook her head. "And I'm pretty sure he dated a girl named Jack before he dated me. I think it was short for Jacqueline."

I shook my head, pulling a stuffed toy from my backpack. This was one of the main reasons I'd wanted to stop by. Mal and I had given Charlie the toy we'd bought for him that same day, but this one I had wanted to wait to give him. "I brought this for Roman. It was my first toy Pokémon as a kid, a Squirtle. I remember being mad because they were all out of Pikachu, but then Mom found me a Squirtle, who was my second favorite Pokémon. I want Roman to have it."

"Oh, Stryker," Charlie said. I could see her eyes start to water. "You don't have to do that."

"I know. But I want to. I was obsessed with Pokémon when I was a kid." Beside me, Mom nodded her head vigorously. I narrowed my eyes at her, but otherwise ignored her. "I hope he'll have as much fun with it as I did."

"I'm sure he will. Thank you. Do you want to hold him?"

"Yeah."

Charlie passed the baby to me. He squirmed in my arms, even though he was fast asleep. He didn't wake up.

"When are you due, Mac?" Charlie questioned, while I held my brother.

"The Fourth of July."

"Oh, wow. A firework baby, huh? That's pretty cool. We should totally do playdates with these two."

"Absolutely." Mom came to stand beside me. She looked down at Roman and laughed. She lightly touched his full head of blonde hair. "Jon, it's ridiculous that your curls seem to be so dominant. Both your boys have your curls, though not your color."

Charlie grinned. "I love the curls. They're adorable."

Mom smirked and ruffled my very curly hair. Which, of course, I'd inherited from Jonathan. "They are."

"Mom," I objected, but I couldn't exactly pull away from her, not with a baby in my arms.


	16. Sixteen: Fireworks

**Okay, okay. Last one for today.**

* * *

**JULY 4**

I couldn't believe the twins were being so ornery! And while my girlfriend was over! Seriously! "Jaxson! Cayson!" I hollered, chasing my brothers around the backyard. This was just ridiculous. It really was. I felt like such an idiot, chasing them around while my girlfriend was watching and fireworks were exploding overhead.

Our neighborhood put on a huge firework show every year, and we always camped out in our backyard to watch it. Some years, we did our own small fireworks before the big show. We hadn't done that this year, mostly because it was Mom's due date and we didn't want to deal with fireworks on top of everything else. She hadn't gone into labor yet, but she'd been having small contractions off and on all day.

And I'd invited Mallory over. It wasn't the first time she'd been to my house. She'd actually been over several times. Fortunately, Mom had had a nice long chat with the twins about not using their magic when we had guests in the house, so I wasn't really worried about that. But the boys were finding other ways to be extremely obnoxious.

Like stealing my cell phone.

"Give me my phone back and go watch the fireworks."

They just laughed and threw the phone back and forth. What was their deal? It was almost eleven-thirty at night, and they were five years old! They should have been exhausted! But no, they had this crazy burst of energy.

"Jaxson Harlow Amala! Cayson Hendrix Amala!" Dad called sternly. "Freeze right this instant!"

The twins froze, looking back at Dad. Dad didn't really get stern with any of us very often, so we all knew he meant business when he did. I plucked my phone out of Cay's hand. Then I went back to sit by my girlfriend, carefully stepping over my sister, while Dad reprimanded the twins.

Bex had brought out a blanket to lay on and a flashlight to read by, but she'd fallen asleep about twenty minutes earlier. Mom was sitting nearby, scowling at the fireworks exploding in the sky. She had one hand under her large belly. She still hadn't gone into labor, and it was making her even more cranky than usual.

"Sorry about that," I told Mallory. "My brothers can be annoying sometimes." At least they had listened to Mom and hadn't tried anything with their magic. That was something to be grateful for, I guess.

Mal shrugged. "It's all right," she said.

I looked at her, a frown pulling at my lips. She'd been incredibly quiet since she'd gotten to my house. She usually thought it was kind of cute to watch my brothers torment me. She enjoyed laughing at me, and encouraging my brothers. But she hadn't done that this time.

"Mallory, is something wrong?"

She shook her head, plastering on a smile. But I could tell it was forced. "No. I'm fine. I'm glad you invited me tonight. I love spending time with your family."

"Mal." I reached out and took her hand. "Seriously. I can tell that something's wrong. You've hardly said a word since you got here. And you usually play with the twins a little, but you didn't this time. What is it? What's wrong?"

"Stryker, please. It's fine. Let's just enjoy the fireworks."

So I let it drop, at least for now. I could try to find out later, I supposed. Maybe when we weren't in my backyard, surrounded by my family. I pulled Mal close, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. I was pretty sure that I was starting to fall in love with this girl. I wasn't anywhere close to ready to tell her yet, but I was definitely falling in love.

"Oh!" I heard Mom suddenly exclaim. "Alex!"

We all looked at Mom. Her eyes were wide and she had both hands under her stomach, but she was smiling widely. "Mac? What's wrong?"

She rolled her eyes. "Nothing's wrong. Sheesh. For a Super Geek, you can be pretty dumb sometimes. Alex, she's coming. The baby's coming! My water just broke."

Dad jumped to his feet. "Stryker –"

"Yeah," I said, before he could even finish his thought. "I'll watch Bex and the twins. No big deal. Go. Text me with any updates."

Dad nodded, and rushed to get Mom into the car.

"Stryker," Jax said, watching our parents leave. His pronunciation for his age was pretty amazing. So was Cayson's. Neither one of them really struggled with any of their letter sounds, which was unusual for five-year-olds. "Where are Mom and Dad going?"

"They're going to the hospital so Mom can have the baby. When they come home, they'll have Kensley with them."

"Oh." And then the twins turned their attention back to the fireworks.

Mallory stood up. "I should probably go, since your parents are gone." My parents hadn't said that she couldn't stay, but Mal and I knew that they wouldn't really like it if my girlfriend stayed over while they were gone. If they hadn't been so distracted by the baby, they probably would have said something.

And I know, a lot of teenagers would have taken advantage of the situation. But I wasn't most teenagers. I actually respected my parents. They didn't ask a lot of me, so I didn't see any reason why I shouldn't do what they _did_ ask.

"Let me know when the baby's born?" she asked, her voice subdued.

I nodded. "Sure. Mal, you know that you can talk to me, right? Whatever's going on, you can talk to me."

She nodded and leaned down - since I was still sitting - to press a kiss to my lips. "Goodnight, Stryker." She started to leave.

"Goodnight," I called, but she was already gone.

I sighed, sinking back into my seat.

The twins and I watched the fireworks for about another twenty minutes, and then I got them inside and ready for bed. I carried Bexley into her soccer-themed bedroom and tucked her into bed, barely managing not to wake her.

I dozed, but I didn't really sleep. I was waiting to hear from Dad. He texted a few times, letting me know how it was progressing. It wasn't going quite as quickly as they had thought it would, but they hadn't run into any kinds of problems, which was good.

Finally, at about five-ten in the morning, I got the text.

KENSLEY RAINE AMALA. 6 LBS. 4 OZ. 19 ½ INCHES LONG. JULY 5TH 5:09 AM.

I sent him a smiley face in response and went to sleep.

* * *

**I seriously would love to have a son like Stryker, when I have teenage kids. He's pretty amazing.**


	17. Seventeen: You're the Voice

**JULY 30**

I laid on my bed, staring at my cell phone. Mal had been getting weird and distant all month. And now she was ignoring my texts and calls? What the hell?

I was a little frustrated that she wouldn't just tell me what was going on. There had been a couple of times where it had seemed like she was going to tell me, and then she changed her mind. So we'd been playing this back-and-forth game for an entire _month_, with me trying to find out what was wrong and with her refusing to tell me. Which of course had been putting a strain on our relationship, and now she was ignoring me altogether. How could I even try to help her if I didn't know what was wrong?

It wasn't just Mallory that was causing my irritation, though. Not at that exact moment, anyway. The screaming coming from the living room wasn't helping.

I groaned, pulling my pillow over my ears, trying to block out the noise. I'd thought _Bexley_ had a set of lungs. She had nothing on Kensley.

Other than Mom and Kenny, I was the only one home. Bex was at Vanessa's, and the twins had spent the night over at Aunt Maddie's house. Dad was at work. Mom was on maternity leave, of course. She was going back at the end of August, though. And then Kenny was going to go to daycare, while Mom and Dad worked and us kids were in school. Luckily for Mom, Camelot Corporation had a nice daycare for their employees.

Even with the pillow over my ears, I could still hear the screaming. With another groan, I got out of bed and went into the living room, where Mom was attempting to get Kensley down for an afternoon nap. Sometimes during the day, she put her down for a nap in the living room instead of the nursery.

She looked at me when I came in. "Stryker," she said. I could barely hear her over my sister's wailing. "I'm so sorry if I disturbed you. She's just being really fussy right now. She's exhausted, but she won't go down for a nap."

"I can hear that. Here, let me try. I know what will work."

I took Kensley from my mom and started to gently rock her. Then I started singing softly. I couldn't sing quite as quietly as I would have liked, because Kenny was being so loud. But I managed to sing gently and loudly at the same time.

"We have the chance to turn the pages over," I sang. It was a song my grandparents had introduced me to. Whenever I went over to their house, we almost always played that song at least once. And we danced to it like idiots. Mom hated it, but I loved it. So did Kensley, I'd found out. It was the only way I could get her to sleep. "We can write what we want to write."

Mom made a face. "That will never work, Stryker. That's a stupid song."

"Shh. Just wait and watch. Trust me, Mom. It'll work." I continued the song. "We gotta make ends meet, before we get much older. We're all someone's daughter. We're all someone's son."

Kensley stopped screaming. She was still crying softly, and she was still awake, but at least she'd stopped screaming at the top of her lungs.

Mom's jaw fell open. "I don't believe it," she whispered.

"How long can we look at each other, down the barrel of a gun? You're the voice, try and understand it. Make a noise and make it clear." I smiled down at my baby sister while I sang. Her tears had stopped, and her eyes were fluttering. She would fall asleep any minute now. "Oh-wo-wo-wo, oh-wo-wo-wo. We're not gonna sit in silence. We're not gonna live with fear. Oh-wo-wo-wo, oh-wo-wo-wo."

I felt Kensley fall asleep in my arms. I kept singing, though, just to be sure. "This time, we know we can stand together. With the power to be powerful. Believing we can make it better."

I stopped singing. When she didn't wake up, I set her down in the bassinet Mom had in the living room. I made sure she was wrapped up well and then I stood up.

Mom still looked stunned. I was pretty sure that she never would have even considered singing that song to calm Kenny down. Like she said, she thought it was a stupid song. She really hated it. "You have _got_ to be kidding me. My least favorite song in the entire world is the one that calms her down?"

"Yep."

She groaned. "I can't believe it. That's so lame. How did you even figure that out?" Mom asked, plopping onto the couch.

I sat next to her, shrugging. "When you and Dad went out to dinner the other night, she got really fussy. She was screaming just like she was a few minutes ago. I tried singing a bunch of different kid songs, and nothing was working. I went through all the nursery rhymes I could think of, and then I started singing theme songs of the twins' favorite shows. Finally I got desperate, and sang _You're the Voice_. It worked. It calmed her right down."

"I hate that song," she grumbled.

I grinned. "Kenny loves it."

She groaned. She leaned her head back, closing her eyes.

"How are you doing, Mom?"

"I'm tired, but I'm doing well." She opened her eyes and looked at me. "I really appreciate your help, though, Stryk. You make it much easier on me. Your father and I both appreciate your help."

I shrugged. "It's really not a big deal."

She opened her eyes to look at me. "It is, actually. Not many teenagers would be as helpful as you are. And you don't even have to be _asked_ most of the time. You just...do it. I don't know if I've told you this, but I am so lucky to have you as a son. You have been one of the very best things to come into my life."

"Well, I think I'm pretty lucky to have you as a mom."

* * *

**So I didn't reveal what was going on with Mal in this chapter. It is going to be revealed in the next chapter. I'm debating whether or not I want to put that chapter up today...**

**And I had to put _You're the Voice_ in here again. I put it in the first fic kind of as a joke, and it just keeps finding moments to creep back in. If you guys haven't, you should look up the YouTube mashup video of Colin Morgan and Bradley James singing along to it. They're pretty cute. :) Sorry. Fangirl moment. Anyway, tell me what you think!**


	18. Eighteen: Those Words

**Please don't hate me.**

* * *

**AUGUST 2**

"Stryker!"

I looked up, surprised. Jon was standing close by, frowning at me. "Yeah?" I asked, wiping down the front counter of the shop. Why did he have such a weird look on his face? Was I doing something wrong?

"Are you feeling all right?"

I was even more confused. "Yeah. Why?"

"I've called your name about four times, champ. You've been completely zoned out."

"Oh."

"What's going on?"

Sighing, I leaned against the counter. I scrubbed my face with my hands. "It's my girlfriend. Something's wrong, but she won't talk to me about it. Whatever it is, it's been going on for a month now and she keeps trying to act like nothing's going on. I don't think she's cheating on me or anything like that. I just…I don't know _what's_ going on."

He came to stand next to me. "She won't tell you anything?"

I shook my head. "Nothing. She keeps saying that I shouldn't worry about it. And that we should just enjoy each other's company. But then she started ignoring my phone calls and texts a few days ago. We haven't even seen other or talked to each for days now, so her saying that we should enjoy each other's company makes absolutely no sense. I thought maybe it was about her dad. I know they were waiting to hear if he would getting deployed again or not – he's in the Air Force. But she says that he's not being deployed. So I have no idea what it could be about."

"I wish I knew what to tell you."

I sighed again. "I think I love her, Jon. I take that back. I _know_ that I love her. And all I want to do is help her and make her happy. But how can I do that if she won't let me?"

He gripped my shoulder. "You can't, Stryker. As frustrating as it is, there's nothing you can do. She has to be the one to let you in. You can't force it."

"I know. I just…Doesn't she understand that all I want is to help? Does she not trust me? Is that why she's not telling me what's going on? I'm just totally confused."

"I don't know. Stryker, women usually leave men confused. I don't know what to tell you."

We sat in silence for a few minutes, which was actually a little comforting.

Our silence was broken by the sound of the bell over the door, indicating a customer. I looked up, and was more than a little surprised.

It was Mallory.

Jon clapped my shoulder. "I'll give you two a few minutes. I'll just be upstairs if you need anything, all right?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Thanks."

He left.

Mal bit her lip. "Hey, Stryker. We…need to talk."

My stomach dropped. Those dreaded words.

But we really did need to talk. We'd been needing to talk for several weeks now. "What do you think I've been trying to _do_, Mallory? Where have you been? Why haven't you been answering my calls or texts? What is going on? And don't tell me that it's nothing. Please. I'm not stupid. I know it's not _nothing_. Something is wrong. I just want to help. Mallory, please just –"

"I'm moving."

I stared at her. I wasn't sure what I had been expecting her to say, but _that_ certainly hadn't been it. "What?" I wasn't even sure if I'd heard her right. I really hoped that I hadn't heard her right. She couldn't be _moving_.

She took a deep breath. "My dad's not being deployed. But it does have something to do with my dad. It has everything to do with my dad. He got a promotion, Stryker, and he's being stationed at one of the bases in Japan. We're moving there this weekend. I didn't know how to tell you earlier, and I tried a couple of times, but I just couldn't put it off anymore."

"Japan?"

She nodded, tears falling down her cheeks. I pulled her close, stroking her hair. This was not what I wanted to hear. Mallory buried her head in my shoulder. "I don't want to go, Stryker. I don't want to break up with you."

"Hey, hey. We don't have to break up. We can make it work. We can Skype, and call. All the time. And there's texting. We can make it work. I know we can." I turned her face toward mine, caressing her cheeks. I smiled. I wasn't going to let something like several thousand miles and an ocean come between us. We could totally make it work. "Mallory, I lov–"

"Don't." She shook her head, squeezing her eyes closed. A few tears escaped to roll down her cheeks. "Don't say that, please. It'll only make it harder. Stryker, it won't work. I'll be in _Japan_. Sure, we can Skype and call and text, but it won't be the same. The distance _will_ come between us. I don't want that. I don't want it to end over a phone call, which I know it will. Long-distance relationships don't work. Please, _please_ don't make it any harder on me than it already is. Don't say those words. I can't hear them. I can't."

I wiped away her tears, feeling my own heart break. More tears replaced the ones I wiped away. "Mallory." But I didn't say anything else. I didn't know what else _to_ say.

I loved her.

And she was leaving me.

"I wanted to say goodbye. I think it'll be better if we don't…If we don't talk anymore. Make it a clean break, so we can both move on. I'm going to miss you so much, Stryker Pendragon. You are the _best_ boyfriend that I've ever had. Don't ever change. You're perfect the way you are." She stood on her toes and kissed me fiercely. I could taste her tears on her lips.

I kissed her back, not willing to let her go.

She pulled away. "I lo–" she broke off, shaking her head. Not that it really did much good, because I knew exactly what she'd been about to say.

She loved me, too.

She took a deep, shaky breath. I could tell she was trying not to cry, although I didn't know why. We were both crying. "Goodbye. Be happy, okay? Find somebody else, and just be happy. For me."

Then she was gone.

And she was taking a piece of me with her.


	19. Nineteen: Marathon Offer

**I know everyone is upset about the break up. I'm sorry, but don't worry. Stryker will find love again. Eventually. He'll move on.**

* * *

**AUGUST 16**

I laid on my back on my bed, staring glumly at the ceiling. Two weeks. It had been two weeks since Mal broke up with me.

I was glad that it had happened over summer break, at least. That way I didn't have to try to pretend that I was okay while at school. My friends had been over the day before, trying to cheer me up. It hadn't really worked, but I appreciated their efforts. They could be super obnoxious, but they were good friends when it really counted. They didn't make fun of me for the break up. They supported me and did what they could to help me move on.

Adrian had had some very interesting things to say about women who moved to Japan and refused to try a long-distance relationship. Most of it was ridiculously stupid, but it had gotten a small laugh out of me, which is probably what he had been going for.

A knock sounded on my door. I looked over the side of my bed as Mom walked into my room. "Hey," I said.

"Hey." She pulled out my desk chair and sat in it. "How are you doing?"

I snorted. "Oh, great," I muttered sarcastically. "My girlfriend broke up with because she moved to Japan, but she's not even willing to try to make it work and she seems to be intent on never speaking to me again. My life's just wonderful." Mallory had ignored every phone call and text of mine. I'd given up on trying to even talk to her. She hadn't been kidding when she'd said that she wanted a clean break.

I sighed. I was frustrated, but I hadn't meant to snap at my mom like that. "I'm sorry," I told her. "It's not your fault."

"Don't be sorry. I understand. But, Stryk, long-distance relationships are not easy."

"I know that. I wouldn't have expected it to be _easy_. Anything that's worth it takes effort. But I was willing to at least _try_, Mom. I was willing to give it a shot, because I fell in love with her. I wanted to make it work, I really did. But she won't even talk to me now."

"I know you did, little man. But it takes two, and if she wasn't willing to make it work, then it probably wouldn't have worked, no matter how hard _you_ tried."

She was right, of course. It still sucked.

"And I know that this isn't exactly helpful advice or advice that you're going to want to hear right now, but…there _are_ other girls out there. You'll fall in love again. Most people fall in love more than once. I did. Dad did. Jon did."

"Mamie and Pappy didn't."

"Well, no. But Mamie and Pappy are really weird," she said, with a small grin. I couldn't help but grin back.

"Aunt Maddie and Uncle Sammy didn't," I said, mostly to be a brat.

Mom rolled her eyes. "They're weird, too." She looked at me for a few seconds before saying, "I know that it's going to take some time for you to get over Mallory, but is there anything that I can do to help you?"

I shrugged. "Probably not."

She closed her eyes, sighing. "I can't believe I'm actually going to say this, but…I'll do a _Doctor_ _Who_ marathon with you. If you want."

I stared down at her, shocked. She had a grimace on her face, like she'd just eaten something gross. My mom was _not_ a fan of _Doctor_ _Who_. Dad, sure. Mamie, definitely. Even Pappy was a fan – though he would never admit it. But Mom, not so much. I liked the show, and I would watch it with Mamie a lot. I wasn't obsessed with it like she was, but it was a good show.

"Are you serious?" I asked.

She scowled. "Yes."

I laughed. "Thanks for the offer, Mom, but I'd never force you to sit through a show that you so thoroughly hate."

She gave me a crooked grin. I could tell she was relieved I wasn't going to take her up on her offer. "You didn't seem to have a problem with it when you were three and forcing me to watch Pokémon with you."

I rolled my eyes. I was still grinning a little. "That was totally different. I was _three_. I didn't really know that you hated my favorite show. But I do appreciate that you'd be willing to sit through _Doctor_ _Who_ with me."

"Of course. You're my son. I hate to see you in pain. I just want you to be happy. You know that, right?"

"I know. I'll get there. It's just…" I trailed off.

"Not an easy process," she supplied for me.

"Right. Not an easy process at all." With a sigh, I climbed down from my bed. "Want help with dinner?" I questioned.

"You don't have to, Stryk."

I shrugged. "Maybe the distraction will be good."

"All right, then. I'd be happy to have your help."

She stood up, and I gave her a tight hug. She hugged me back for about two seconds, and then tried to pull away – she really wasn't a fan of hugs. I didn't let go. It was nice to be hugging my mom, even if she wasn't reciprocating.

"Stryker. Stop. You know how I feel about hugs."

"I know," I said.

I still didn't let go.

Mom sighed, and wrapped her arms around me again. "I've always said that you like hugs way too much," she informed me. "But I love you, little man."

"Love you, too, Mom."

I let go and kissed her cheek before heading into the kitchen.


	20. Twenty: Jon's Parents

**Okay, I'm giving you guys two chapters today because I tormented you by breaking up Mal and Stryk. Plus, this chapter is a little shorter than the others. Enjoy!**

* * *

**SEPTEMBER 12**

"How are you doing, Stryker? With the break up?" Jon asked, as we closed the shop for our lunch break. We made our way up the stairs to his apartment.

I shrugged. "All right. I still miss Mal, but not as much. I'm starting to get over her. I don't know that I'll stop loving her, but I'm moving on." I looked around the living room, surprised not to see anybody. "Where's Charlie and Roman?" I asked.

"Having a playdate with your mom and Kensley, if you can believe it." Jon shook his head, grinning slightly.

"Really? Aren't the babies a little young for that? I mean, Roman's a few days shy of being three months old, and Kensley's only two months old. Neither of them can crawl yet."

"I think it's just an excuse for the women to get together and gossip, probably about me. But I'm glad that they're getting along."

"You don't think it's weird that your fiancée and your ex are becoming good friends?" If I'd been in his shoes, I probably would have found it really weird and kind of annoying.

He shrugged, opening the fridge. "Not really. They're pretty similar in some ways, so it really isn't all that surprising. Want some pepperoni pizza? There's almost a whole one left over from last night."

"Sure."

"Cold or warmed up?"

"I'll take it cold."

He got down two plates and dished up the pizza. He handed me one of the plates. "Have there been any other girls to catch your eye?" he wanted to know.

I shrugged. "Not really. But I really haven't been out much this summer. School does start up again in a few days, though. Maybe I'll meet someone new I'll like."

"Always a possibility."

"Can I ask you something? About your parents?"

Jonathan, holding a slice of pizza halfway to his mouth, froze. He slowly put the slice back down. "My parents?"

"Yeah."

"I guess." He didn't seem exactly thrilled to be talking about them. I wondered why that was.

"Well, I've just never really heard anything about them. Mom talked about you sometimes, but she never mentioned your mom or dad. I never really thought to ask her before, either. But now I'm kind of curious about them. Are they still around? And if they are, do they…do they know about me?"

Jon sighed, scratching his chin. "My parents…Yes, they're still around. Alive, if that's what you mean. And yes, they know about you. But they didn't for a really long time. I didn't tell them until you were probably about eight."

I frowned. "_Eight_? How did they not know sooner than that? I mean, they lived here in Camelot, didn't they? I'm assuming they did, since that's where you and Mom were both living when you were dating. I'm pretty sure news of Mom being pregnant would have gotten around extremely fast. Stuff like that always does."

"The thing about my parents is that they are incredibly self-absorbed. And they were busy. Mac and I dated for about a year and a half, and my parents only met her twice in all that time. They worked nine to five jobs, but they worked overtime a lot. And they took a lot of vacations. They were hardly ever home. When Mac and I broke up, I didn't tell them the reason. They hardly even noticed, anyway."

"And they never saw Mom around town or anything? They had to have noticed that she was pregnant."

Jon shook his head. "They didn't. Like I said, they were incredibly self-absorbed. They didn't mingle in town a lot. And then they moved to Hawaii the September after I graduated. Before you were even a year old. I finally said something to them about it the year you turned eight."

"Did they care at all?" I asked. "Did they want to meet me?"

"At that point, I asked them not to contact you or Mac. It had been eight years. I'd signed away my rights to you. I thought – and I was probably wrong, I don't know – that bringing them into your life then would do more harm than good. They did ask to meet you, but I didn't let it happen."

I nodded, but I didn't say anything. I wasn't quite sure how to feel about that. Maybe it _was_ better that they hadn't been in my life. I wasn't sure.

"Stryker? Do you _want_ to meet them?"

I looked at him in surprise. "I thought they moved to Hawaii."

"They did. That's where they live now. But they're visiting next month. You can meet them if you want. It's up to you."

"I'll have to think about it."

"I understand. They'll be here sometime on the nineteenth. They're...interesting people."

I chuckled, frowning at him slightly. "Um, okay. I'm not really sure what _that's_ supposed to mean."

"If you choose to meet them, you'll find out. Trust me."


	21. Twenty-One: Paul and Marie

**OCTOBER 19**

I parked in front of Jon's shop. I'd decided that I wanted to meet his parents – my grandparents. They were supposed to be getting to Jon's apartment sometime around four, so I'd wanted to make sure that I got there a little earlier than them. It was almost three-thirty.

I'd told Mom what Jon had said about Paul and Marie Essiter, and she hadn't been at all surprised. She'd never really seen them around town before the break up, apparently. And not after, either. She'd figured that Jon hadn't told them about me right away. She'd warned me that they were nothing like their son. "Extremely prim and proper" was how she'd put it. And snobs. She'd said that they could be snobs.

I got out of the car and fiddled with my clothes, trying to make sure they were straight and presentable. I'd worn my nicest pair of jeans, with my new Converse sneakers. And I had on a polo shirt. I'd even _tucked it in_.

I never tucked in my shirts. I mean, unless I was wearing a suit or something. That was different.

I used the main entrance for the apartment, not the one at the back of the shop. I knocked as I opened the unlocked door. "Hey," I said.

Roman, who was laying on his tummy on a large blanket, looked up and smiled when he saw me. He started kicking his little feet and waving at me. At four months old, he hadn't started crawling yet, but he sure could move his feet and legs. And he seemed to know who I was, because he always smiled when he saw me.

Charlie, sitting on the couch, smiled. "Don't you look extra nice, Stryker."

"Yeah," I said, reaching down to pick up my baby brother. "I figured I'd try to make a good impression on my grandparents."

Jon came into the living room just then, from the kitchen. "You talked to your mother, didn't you?"

"Yep."

"Did she tell you horror stories about my parents?"

"Well, I wouldn't say horror stories, exactly. More like – mph." Roman had suddenly smacked each of his little fists on my cheeks and mashed them together. He smiled widely, pushing my cheeks in every direction. He had just recently mastered the art of grabbing things.

Unfortunately.

"He's become very fascinated with faces in the past couple days," Charlie explained. "And using his hands to manipulate faces."

I pulled my face out of my brother's reach. "I can see that," I said. I gave the baby a mock-stern look, though I knew he didn't understand it. Not yet. "That's not very nice, Roman. You shouldn't pull on people's faces."

His grin came back in full force and he tried to grab my cheeks again. I tried to keep my face out of his hands. "No. Roman! Ow!" He'd managed to pinch one of my cheeks, hard. I turned him around in my arms, so he couldn't reach my face. Dang. He could pinch.

Just then, the door opened, and two people walked in, probably in their late sixties.

Boy, Mom had not been kidding about prim and proper.

Marie was wearing a brown pencil skirt, with a pastel green cashmere sweater set. She had on a pearl necklace and bracelet. Her white hair was pulled up into a tight bun.

Paul wore ironed white slacks and an argyle sweater vest over a crisp white dress shirt. And he wore a bowtie.

A _bowtie_!

I'm sorry, but the only time a bowtie was cool was if the Doctor was wearing it.

Somehow, I could not picture these two people raising Jonathan. It just seemed...wrong.

"Mom, Dad," Jon greeted, showing them into the small apartment. "There's Charlie; you've met her once before. That's little Roman. He's four months old now. And holding him is Stryker, my son with Mac. He's sixteen. Though he'll be seventeen in just a couple months."

"The son you didn't bother to tell us about until he was eight years old," Marie grumbled. "And then you wouldn't let us even meet him."

"_Mom_," Jon said through gritted teeth.

Paul glanced over at me. "I'm hoping you didn't help name him. _Stryker_?" Wow. It was like I wasn't even in the room. He was seriously going to stand there and diss my name? I was his grandson! Jeez. Maybe I was better off with them not in my life. I mean, it wasn't like I really cared if he liked my name or not. I liked it, so it didn't matter if other people did or not. But still.

"Dad."

I shook my head. "Don't worry, Jon. I got that a lot as a kid. Roman might get it, too, though I think Roman's becoming a pretty popular name now. He might not have people look at him strangely because of his name."

Marie stared at Jon in something close to horror. "Your son calls you by your _name_?"

Jonathan rolled his eyes. No wonder he hadn't exactly been excited when I'd asked about his parents. They were something else. "What else did you expect, Mom? I was absent from his life for _sixteen_ _years_. Mac got married, and Stryk's had a good stepfather for most of his life. I never expected him to call me Dad. I haven't _acted_ like one to him, and I don't deserve the title. Not from Stryker. We're both comfortable with him calling me Jon or Jonathan for now. That might change someday, and it might not."

Marie shook her head, muttering something about being 'indecent.' I was glad that she wasn't looking in my direction, because I was trying _really_ hard not to laugh. While she and Jon had been talking, Charlie had been pretending to be Marie, horrified at the idea of me calling my birth father by his name. She had been making horrified faces and miming fainting and everything.

She was awesome.

Charlie caught my eye and winked.


	22. Twenty-Two: Cute Girls

**Okay, so. I worked an overnight shift last night. With the job that I have, when I work an overnight shift, I have a _lot_ of free time. So I went a little crazy and wrote tons of chapters last night. I'm going to be posting many chapters today.**

* * *

**NOVEMBER 16**

I left the kitchen just as the front door opened, and a large group of people came into the house. Aunt Maddie, Uncle Sammy, and all of their kids; Nathan, Michael, Emily, Erica, and Joshua. Everybody else was already there; Aunt Harper, Uncle Aaron, Rebecca, Mamie, Pappy, Grandma, and Grandpa. We were celebrating Jaxson and Cayson's sixth birthday. And, as usual, we had pretty much the entire family gathered. None of Dad's sisters could make it, though they had sent gifts and cards with Grandma and Grandpa.

Nate sat next to Becky, who had just recently turned ten. Nate was eleven, and they usually hung out together at family events, if you could really call it hanging out. They both sat with books in their hands. Michael, who was eight, ran off to play soccer with Bex in her room. She had a loft bed like mine, but with a soccer net hanging over the bottom part. Emily and Erica – four – and Jaxson and Cayson all ran out to the backyard to play. Aunt Maddie was holding one-year-old Josh in her arms. He was snoring quietly.

"Put him in the play pen, Mads," Mom said. "Kenny won't need it for a little while. She's too busy being passed between Alex's parents."

"Thanks, Mac." Aunt Maddie laid Josh down and straightened up.

Mom had her eyes narrowed in her twin's direction. "Maddison du Lac," she said, her tone accusatory. "You're pregnant again." She didn't say it as a question. She said it as a statement. Ah, her magic. She must have sensed it with her magic.

Aunt Maddie blushed slightly. "Yes. We weren't planning to have another one so close to Josh, but it happened."

"We had a really fun announcement planned, too," Uncle Sammy said. He gave Mac a mock glare. "And you ruined it, Mac."

"Well, I'm sorry. I just didn't expect her to be _pregnant_, not so soon after Josh. And it's another girl, huh. So you'll have three of each."

"How far along are you?" Pappy asked. "Does she have magic?"

"I'm about a month, and yes, she does have magic." It was a good thing Grandma and Grandpa knew about the magic in my family, or this would be a _very_ awkward evening. I wasn't sure when exactly my parents had told them, but it was sometime after Bex had been born. Even though Bexley didn't have magic, I guess Mom and Dad had felt that his parents should know that it was a possibility for the next kid that came along.

"And no, before anyone can even ask, we don't have names picked out," Uncle Sammy said. "We're only a month into the pregnancy. We're not going to think about names just yet."

Aunt Maddie shook her head, smiling slightly. "No, we already know what her name is going to be. I told you, Sammy, that if we had another girl, she would be Trista."

"Whatever," my uncle replied.

"So, Aunt Maddie," I said, grinning, "you still want like, six more kids, right?"

She gave me a stern look, but she was totally trying not to smile. "Stryker Pendragon, you are too much like your mother sometimes. I think this will be our last baby."

Mom smirked. "You always said you wanted seven, though."

"Well, I changed my mind. I want six. And now I've got six, so I think I'm done."

I shook my head and sat between Grandma and Grandpa Amala. Kensley was in Grandma's lap, happily pulling on her hair, and then trying to chew on it, too. I took a bite of the carrot I'd grabbed from the kitchen. We were having a big family dinner, but not for another hour or so. And I was hungry now.

Grandpa chuckled, poking me in the stomach. "You've got a bottomless pit for a stomach, don't you? You've been snacking all day, since we got here this morning."

I shrugged, grinning. I had been a little more hungry than usual, but not too much. "I'm a teenage boy," I said. "What do you expect?"

He just rolled his eyes and shook his head. "How's school?"

"Why is that always the first question I get asked?"

"Because you're a kid and school is a big part of your life. As your grandfather, I want to know how your life is going. Which means I must ask about school."

"School's fine. I've actually got a lot of classes with my best friend, Adrian, this year. That's pretty nice. My teachers are all pretty cool this year."

"How are your grades?"

"Great. I've got an A in almost every class. I do have a B in biology."

Grandpa grinned. "Any cute girls?"

"Well, maybe."

_That_ got Grandma's attention, too. She had been busy making faces at my sister, and not really listening to our conversation. But her ears sure perked up when she that I might think a girl was cute. She gently extracted her hair from Kensley's fist and looked at me. There was a gleam in her eye. "Stryker, do you have a crush on someone?"

"Grandma," I worried, "if you're going to be embarrassing about it, I won't tell you."

She pursed her lips.

I waited until I was certain she was going to listen quietly before I said anything else. "She's in my English class. She's pretty smart. And really cute."

"What's her name?" Grandma asked, unable to help herself.

"Brittany Gold."

"You should ask her out," my grandfather told me.

"Not yet, Grandpa. She doesn't really know who I am. And I think she might have a boyfriend, but I'm not sure."

"Well, find out. And if she doesn't, I expect you to ask that girl out, young man."

I chuckled. "Okay, Grandpa. Whatever you say."


	23. Twenty-Three: Galaxies Apart

**Like I said, I went a little crazy last night.**

* * *

**DECEMBER 3**

I parked outside Mamie and Pappy's house and leaned my forehead against the steering wheel. I really wasn't feeling well, and I hadn't been for a couple of weeks. I'd started feeling off shortly after the twins' birthday. I was glad that Pappy was going to be driving us to the performance. I probably shouldn't have even driven the short distance to my grandparents' house, with how I was feeling. I had almost fallen asleep at the wheel.

I was really tired. I was super thirsty, all the time. And it didn't seem to matter how much water I drank. It didn't get rid of the thirst. I was hungry almost all the time, too. More than was normal, even for a growing teenager, I was sure. I never really felt full anymore. But I hadn't put on any extra weight. If anything, I'd _lost_ a pound or two. I'd probably need to go see a doctor. At first I had thought that it might be the flu, but I wasn't so sure anymore. I hadn't thrown up or anything. There were times that I felt like I was _going_ to, but I never did.

But I was _not_ going to worry about it today.

Today was my seventeenth birthday, and I was going to enjoy it, damnit.

I took a deep breath and got out of my car. I rubbed my eyes as I walked to the front door. I knocked as I opened it. Stifling a yawn, I called, "Mamie! Pappy!"

Mamie came out of her office and gave me a hug, a wide smile on her face. "Happy birthday, Stryker. I can't believe you're seventeen already. It seems like it wasn't that long ago that you were learning to walk."

I grinned tiredly. "I know. It's insane. I can hardly believe it, either. I'm seventeen."

"Sit down on the couch. Your grandfather should be out in just a minute. He's just finishing up in the shower. Do you want a brownie? I made some last night."

"Uh…no thanks. Maybe when we get back." Even though I _was_ hungry, I just didn't feel like eating anything at the moment. My stomach was feeling a bit queasy, actually.

Mamie gave me a strange look, but didn't push it. I didn't usually refuse her treats. Okay, I never refused her treats. She sat beside me. "How's your birthday been so far?"

I smiled. "Good. Bex made me breakfast in bed, and it was really good. I think she had Dad help her, but it was sweet of her. And she got me a new video game. The twins made a pop-up storybook that was really cute. Mom and Dad surprised me with a new phone. It's been good so far. And we're doing a big family dinner tonight, so that'll be nice."

"I'm glad."

Pappy came down the stairs just then, ruffling his still-damp hair. It used to be blonde, but just in the last few years it had started to turn grey.

Mamie's hair was still as dark as night.

"You ready, Stryk?"

"Yep. I've been ready for weeks."

For my birthday, Pappy had gotten tickets to a traveling theatre group. They had sold out almost the first day, but Pappy had managed to get two really good seats. I had been looking forward to this for weeks. This group was doing some sort of reimagined version of Romeo and Juliet, something super futuristic and sci-fi. It had sounded really interesting. Definitely a new twist on a classic tale. Those were always some of my favorites.

"All right. Let's go."

I followed Pappy out to his car and slid into the passenger seat. "Feel any older?" he asked, starting the car.

I shook my head slowly, blinking rapidly to try to keep my eyes open. I would _not_ fall asleep. Not on my birthday, and definitely not on my way to see _Galaxies Apart._ I wanted to enjoy this. "Not really," I said. "Seventeen doesn't really seem any different than sixteen."

"That's true. Besides, the big one is eighteen."

I grinned. "Yeah." I shook my head again, trying to keep my eyes open.

It wasn't working. It wasn't working at all.

Maybe it would be okay if I just laid my head back for the car ride. It would take us about half an hour to get to the performance center. I could rest during the ride, and then I'd be able to stay awake for the actual play. And at this point, it didn't seem like I'd be able to stay awake if I tried.

I closed my eyes.

It was quiet for about half a minute. I had almost fallen asleep when I heard Pappy's voice.

"Stryker?"

"Hmm?" I mumbled. I didn't open my eyes. I was too tired to open my eyes. Why did he sound so worried?

"Are you feeling all right?"

"I'm fine," I mumbled. I just wanted to sleep. That was all I wanted. Sleep.

"Are you sure?"

"Just tired, that's all."

"Stryker." Pappy was sounding more and more concerned by the minute. Why? I was just tired, that was it. Well, and hungry and thirsty, but he couldn't know that. "Talk to me, kiddo. Are you having a hard time breathing?"

I frowned, wondering why he would think that. I didn't think I was having any trouble breathing. I felt like I was breathing just fine. I was just extremely tired. "No," I said slowly. I still hadn't opened my eyes. "I'm just tired. Wake me when we get there."

"No. I don't know what you're saying, but I'm taking you to the hospital, Stryks. You're not making any sense, and you sound like you're having trouble breathing. Something's not right."

I tried to argue – I did _not_ want to miss this play – but I was too tired. I fell asleep instead.

* * *

**I do have one more chapter that I'll post today, but I have to run some errands first. So here's a teensy cliffhanger! He, he. I promise the next chapter will be up today, though, explaining what's wrong with Stryk. Let's just say that things are going to get pretty interesting for him. Poor guy.**


	24. Twenty-Four: Diagnosis

**DECEMBER 3**

I drifted in and out of sleep, having a hard time focusing on what was going on around me. I remembered Pappy helping me into the hospital and explaining to the nearest nurse what had happened. I remembered being put in a bed in the pediatrics ward - because I was under eighteen - and having two IVs hooked up to my arms. I remembered Mom and Dad rushing into my room. And Mamie. Mamie had been with them. Aunt Maddie had come in at some point, wearing scrubs. She did work in the hospital, in the pediatrics ward, so that wasn't too surprising.

Finally, I was able to focus enough that I could hear Mom and Mamie talking quietly. Maybe they were hoping not to wake me up. "Maybe if we used our magic together," Mom said, and I could hear the desperation in her voice. She'd been crying. "It might work. It didn't work when I tried to use the magic on my own, but maybe we can heal him, together. We both have strong magic. It might -"

"Mackenzie," Mamie cut in gently, "you and I both know that no amount of magic can fix this. Magic can't fix something that's been destroyed."

Destroyed? That couldn't be good. That _really_ couldn't be good.

I sat up, slowly, opening my eyes as I did so. Ugh. I was wearing a hospital gown and bracelet. So I'd actually been admitted. Which probably meant that I was going to have to stay overnight. I didn't understand why I had two IVs, though. Didn't they usually just use one? "What…" I trailed off, clearing my throat. My mouth was dry. "What are you talking about? What's wrong with me?" I whispered. I didn't feel quite as tired as I had earlier, and I was able to think more clearly. But I still wasn't quite back to myself yet. I still felt _off_.

Mom rushed to my side, caressing my forehead. "Stryker, little man. How are you feeling?"

I narrowed my eyes at her. Her own eyes were full of tears and red and puffy, confirming my earlier suspicion. She'd definitely been crying. She'd been crying for some time, it looked like. "Mom. What's wrong with me? Why won't magic fix it?"

She sighed. "The doctor has diagnosed you with type one diabetes. They're waiting for the results of a test to make absolute certain, but he's pretty sure. After Pappy told them some of your symptoms, they tested your bloodsugar. It was over four-hundred, which is _really_ high. And it's probably been pretty high for a while now. They've been pumping you full of fluids to try to flush some of the excess sugar out of your system. And they've got you on insulin, which should bring your bloodsugar back down."

This had to be a dream. She couldn't really be saying…I couldn't actually have… "_Diabetes_? I thought only people who were overweight got that."

Mom shook her head. "Type two _is_ common in overweight and obese people, but type one is more common in kids and teens, according to the doctor. Type one is…It's most likely an autoimmune disorder. Basically, they think that your own immune system attacked the cells in your pancreas that create insulin, and destroyed those cells. That's why magic won't heal you. Your pancreas is…Well, it's pretty much dead, Stryk. Magic can't bring back something that's dead, especially when it was destroyed by your own body. Magic can't really heal you from yourself."

I leaned back against my pillows, sighing. I closed my eyes. Diabetes? I had freaking _diabetes_?

Mom was stroking my forehead again. "I'm so sorry, Stryker. I'm sorry I can't fix this for you. Magic can be so wonderful sometimes, and then it can be so completely _useless_ other times."

"It's not your fault, Mom."

"I know, I know it's not, but I just can't _stand_ not being able to do anything. And type one diabetes isn't something that's ever going to go away. Your pancreas is never going to work properly again. You're going to have to deal with this for the rest of your life."

I gulped. As pathetic as it was, I was trying not to cry. I was trying really hard not to cry. "This sucks." That was the understatement of the century.

"It does," Mamie agreed. She slipped her hand into mine, squeezing gently.

"They want to keep you overnight, at least. Probably tomorrow night, too," Mom told me. "They won't release you until they can get your bloodsugar back into a normal range, and they won't release you until you've had some training for controlling your diabetes. And since you're still a minor, your dad and I have to do the training, too."

I scowled. "Will I have to take shots?" I'd heard that people with diabetes had to take shots.

I opened my eyes just in time to see my mom grimace. She knew I wasn't going to like the answer. "Yes, you will," she said.

My scowl deepened.

I hated needles.

"How often?"

"Four times a day, probably."

"Ugh." This just kept getting worse and worse.

"The rest of the family is out in the waiting room," Mamie told me. "Alex and your father went out there to let them all know what was going on. The doctor was just in here, explaining it all to us. Your friends are here, too. And Jonathan. Do you want me to bring any of them in?"

"No!" I shook my head. "No. I'm still…"

"Not feeling your best?" Mamie guessed.

"Not really. I mean, I feel better than I did earlier. A lot better. But I'm still kind of out of it. And I think I need a chance to…get used to it before I visit with anyone else. If that's okay." I looked at my mom, hoping she would understand. I needed some time to myself. I was starting to lose the battle against the tears, and I really didn't want anyone to be around to see me cry. I was sure I was going to look like a pathetic loser any minute. I'd rather not have an audience for that.

Mom smiled sadly. She totally understood. "Of course it's okay. This is a lot to take in. I'm sure everyone will understand. I'll have everyone come back tomorrow morning, okay? After you've had a chance to rest up."

I nodded.

Mom leaned down and kissed my forehead. "We'll get through this, Stryker."

I nodded again.

Then she and Mamie walked out of the room, leaving me alone to cry.

* * *

**It took me a little while to decide what medical issue to have Stryker deal with. I decided on type one diabetes for a couple of reasons. 1) I actually know a lot about it. I've had it since I was seven years old. I just turned twenty-four, so it's been a huge part of most of my life. I don't remember much of the beginning part, when I was first diagnosed. I would imagine that it's going to be more difficult for Stryker to get used to, since he's seventeen. I was seven. Sure, it was a life-changer for me, but at that age, just about everything is a life-changer. 2) There are a lot of misconceptions out there about diabetes. I don't know if any of you know anything about it, but now you'll get a chance to learn. 3) It's something that doesn't have to ruin someone's life - if it's taken care of. It's something that a person can learn to live with, and to live a pretty normal life. I wanted to give Stryker something that changes his world. And yet doesn't change his world, if that makes any sense at all.**

**P.S. I hope none of you guys get squeamish reading about needles. They will be mentioned.**

**I'm very curious to hear your thoughts about this. And I'm wondering if anyone guessed what it might have been, based off of the symptoms he was experiencing.**


	25. Twenty-Five: Willow

**Okay, just kidding. One more chapter tonight. Keep the reviews coming! I love them!**

* * *

**DECEMBER 4**

I stood in front of the hospital vending machine, glaring at it. I really wanted a Sprite, but that had forty-six grahams of carbohydrates – most of which were pure sugar – and that was about how much I was supposed to have at one meal. And if I had _anything_ with carbs, I had to take a shot.

So my choices were to either take a stupid shot, or get a stupid diet soda.

I hated diet soda.

But I hated shots, too.

I sighed. Being diabetic really sucked.

Dad and I had just gotten done with my training – Mom had done the same training earlier in the morning, while my friends and family had paraded through my room to visit with me. They'd unhooked the IVs for my training. I wasn't sure if I'd have to put them back in when I got back to my room or not. I guess it would depend on what my bloodsugar was.

At this training, I'd learned how to load and give shots to myself. I'd learned about the different kinds of insulin – the doctor wanted to start me on Lantus for nights and Humalog for meals. I'd learned how to test my bloodsugar. I'd learned how to calculate my insulin for the food that I ate and for my bloodsugar – more insulin if I was high, less if I was low. I'd learned how to count carbs and how many carbs I should have – between forty-five and sixty per meal and about fifteen for a snack before bed each night. I'd learned how to handle sick days – even if I was puking my guts out, I still had to eat to make sure my bloodsugar didn't go low. I'd learned the most common symptoms of low and high bloodsugar – though it was possible that my personal symptoms would be a little different. It was also possible that foods would effect me slightly differently than they'd effect another diabetic. I would just have to figure it all out. It would take time for me to learn what worked best for _my_ body and _my_ diabetes.

I was just glad that I'd been able to go to the training in my own clothes, and not that stupid hospital gown.

Once we were done, I'd begged Dad to let me walk back to my hospital room on my own. I'd wanted a chance to just be alone, and to try to digest it all.

And I _really_ wanted a soda.

"You know, you have to actually put money into the machine to get something out of it."

I turned around. A girl was leaning against the wall behind me. She was probably about my age, definitely shorter than me, with dark red hair that was pulled into a long side braid. Her skin was about as pale as mine, but with a light dusting of freckles. She had very vivid green eyes. She was wearing skinny jeans and a blue tee-shirt that said, "Whatever. I'm getting cheese fries."

She smiled, waving slightly. "Hi. I'm Willow Griffin. Is there a reason that you're glaring at the vending machine like it ran over your dog?"

That got a surprised chuckle out of me. I took a step back, to give her enough room. "Sorry. Did you want something? Go ahead. I haven't decided what I want." Well, I knew exactly what I _wanted_. I just wasn't sure if it was worth it or not.

"Huh. Somehow, I don't think that's quite true," she said, but she slipped around me and put a dollar into the machine. "So, back to my question, because I am seriously curious. Why were you glaring at a vending machine? Seems kind of like a wasted effort to me. I mean, it's not like the machine can respond."

I sighed. "I was just diagnosed with type one diabetes. What I _really_ want is a Sprite. But that has a lot of carbs and sugar, so if I get it, then I have to stab myself with a needle."

She winced, choosing a green tea. "Ooh, suckage."

"Yeah."

Her eyes zoned in on the hospital band around my wrist. "Just today?"

"Yesterday. On my birthday." I wouldn't normally just tell this stuff to a complete stranger, but I felt like whining a little bit. It _did_ suck. "And because I got admitted, I had to miss out on a really cool play that's only in town until tonight. And I'm stuck in here. Probably until sometime tomorrow."

She winced again. "Double suckage. Actually, that sounds more like triple suckage. I'm super sorry."

I shrugged. "Yeah, but what can you do?" I looked at her closely. She didn't look familiar. I was pretty sure I'd remember that red hair. "Do you live here in Camelot? I don't think I've seen you around before."

"You probably haven't. I just moved here two days ago, from Nebraska. My grandma has lung cancer, and my mom wanted to be closer to her. I'm transferring to Avalon High, right after the Christmas break." Our Christmas break hadn't technically started yet. We had another week before it started. I was pretty sure that my parents were going to let me stay home this week, though. Which I appreciated. "Do you go to Avalon High?"

"Yeah, I do. It's a good school. What grade are you in?"

"I'm a junior. You?"

"Same."

"Oh, sweet. At least I'll have one familiar face on my first day. Is it true that Avalon High's big sport is _fencing_?"

I laughed. We were one of the few schools who even _had_ a fencing team. Well, it was a fairly big deal in this area, but there were still only about ten schools that competed. And they were kind of spread out, so traveling to competitions took several hours. "Yeah, it is. There are a lot of sports offered, but fencing is the big one at Avalon. It shouldn't be too surprising, though. Our mascot _is_ a knight."

She narrowed her eyes at me. "You aren't on the fencing team, are you?"

"No, I'm not."

"Good. That would have made me rethink your coolness."

I narrowed my eyes at her, but I couldn't help grinning slightly. "Careful. My grandfather was on the fencing team."

Willow patted my arm in mock sympathy. "I am so sorry."

I laughed, shaking my head. "Whatever. I'm sorry about your grandmother. Cancer can't be any fun." And of course, it was just another one of those things that magic couldn't heal. My mom had mentioned that magic had a hard time healing the body against itself, and cancer was literally the body attacking itself.

Kind of like type one diabetes.

Willow gave me a sad smile. "It's not. But unfortunately, it's a part of life. By the way, I'd get a Fresca if I were you. It doesn't have any carbs or sugar, but it doesn't really taste like a diet drink. See you in school, hopefully."


	26. Twenty-Six: I Hate This

**DECEMBER 22**

I sat back on my couch in my room, sipping my Fresca. Willow had been right; it didn't really taste like a diet drink. It had become my new favorite. I could drink it whenever I wanted without having to worry about taking a shot, and it didn't taste like a diet soda. It was a win-win.

"Adrian, we need to figure out how to defeat that stupid manticore," I said, as we paused the game again. This was the fourth time we'd nearly been killed by that stupid creature that was terrorizing the village. It kept killing villagers, and we couldn't move on to the next level of the game without defeating the manticore first. But everything we had tried so far had failed. None of my spells worked on it. Tommy's knight's sword just glanced off of its body without harming it - only making it mad. The charisma skill that helped Adrian's king character get past most obstacles did absolutely nothing the manticore.

"I know, but I can't figure out how. Everything we've tried has nearly gotten us killed," my best friend replied.

We'd been lucky not to have had to restart the level. But we'd had a bunch of close calls.

"There are no cheats for defeating the manticore," Tommy said. "At least, I haven't been able to find any."

I sighed. "This is stupid. There has to be _something_. There has to be some way to defeat the stupid thing."

"Oh, hey," Ty began. "What about that small entrance over there? To the left of the main entrance to manticore's cave? I bet we could sneak in through there and take the manticore by surprise." He took the game off pause and charged straight into the hole before we could warn him that it was probably booby-trapped.

"No!" Adrian, Tommy, and I all yelled.

The screen showed a flashing white light, and then we were all transported to the beginning of the level. It had taken us a _week_ to get to the end of the level where the manticore was, and now we were going to have to start all over. Sure, it wouldn't take us as long this time, but still. It would probably take several days.

And _that_ was why Ty was still a freaking squire.

"Tyler!" I yelled, groaning. We had been _so_ careful not to be killed, and he went and ruined it all. I covered my face with my hands.

Which made me realize that my hands were shaking. Badly. I'd been too focused on the game earlier to notice it, which wasn't good. Stuff like that could put me back in the hospital.

"Guys, hold on a minute. I think my bloodsugar's out of whack. Actually, just go ahead and play without me."

"You sure, dude?" Adrian asked. "We can wait while you take care of your bloodsugar. It's really not a big deal."

"Nah. Go ahead. I feel like I might be low, and I don't know how long it will take me to get back into range. See if you can find some information somewhere about defeating the manticore."

I saved my character's place and left the game, pulling off my headset. Then I pulled out my test kit and tested my bloodsugar.

Sixty-four.

Which meant that I need some fast sugar. I stood up and went into the kitchen. Mom tried to make sure that we had plenty of juice, in case I needed it. She bought a different flavor each time, it seemed like. Technically, they said that orange juice was the best. But so far, they all seemed to work the same for me, as long as they had a lot of sugar.

I grabbed the grape juice from the fridge and poured myself a glass. I drank it quickly. Then I leaned against the counter to wait for the shakiness to go away. It would probably take at least fifteen minutes, then I'd have to test again to make sure the juice was bringing my bloodsugar up enough. If it wasn't, I'd have to drink more juice and wait another fifteen minutes to make sure it was working.

I looked down at my left wrist. Dad had ordered me a braided leather medical bracelet as soon as I'd been diagnosed. I'd been wearing it since a couple days after I got home from the hospital. It was important for me to wear it in case I passed out because of high or low bloodsugar, and there was nobody around me that knew that I was diabetic.

I was having a hard time seeing it as anything other than just another stupid reminder that my life would never be the same.

"I _hate_ this!" Frustrated, I took the bracelet off and threw it. It slid across the floor, stopping when it hit Dad's foot. He had just stepped off of the stairs near the kitchen.

He scooped up the bracelet and walked into the kitchen holding it. After a minute, he said, "Well, you could have just told me that you didn't like the design I chose."

I sighed. He was just teasing me, I was sure. "Sorry. It's not that I don't like the design. It's a nice medical bracelet, but it's still a _medical bracelet_."

I could tell by his face that he understood exactly what I _wasn't_ saying. "And you hate the fact that you have to wear it at all," he said, guessing my thoughts perfectly. "You hate that you have to test your bloodsugar and count carbs and eat when you're low and not eat much when you're high. You hate all of these things that you now have to be aware of that you didn't have to think about before. I don't blame you one bit, buddy."

"How did it even happen? I mean, there is _no_ history of diabetes in Mom's family. None."

"What about Jon's family?"

I shook my head. "I asked. He said there's no history of it on his side, either. Well, he does have a distant cousin with type two. But he's only related to that cousin through marriage, so it wouldn't have an effect on me. Besides, it was type two, not type one."

"I don't know, Stryk. It must have been something in the combination of Mac's and Jon's genes."

"Yeah. I guess. It still sucks."

Dad chuckled, giving me a one-armed hug. "Yeah, it sure does. But it's a big part of your life now. Being mad about it won't change it."

"I know," I grumbled.

He held the bracelet out to me.

With a sigh, I took it and put it back on.

* * *

**One really interesting thing about type one diabetes is that nobody really knows what exactly causes it. They think it's autoimmune disorder, but they're really not sure. For most people who have it, they think it's something in the genetics. I know that's probably what it is in my case. I don't have any history, really, of type one in my family. I did have a grandmother who was insulin dependant, but I think it was because she didn't take care of her type two diabetes and later had to be put on insulin. I have a lot of type two in my family. No type one. Except me, my younger sister, and my younger brother all three have it. All three of my mom's biological children. So with us, I'm pretty sure it was something in the combination of my mom and dad's genes. But I've heard of one guy who was an alcoholic, and the alcohol ended up destroying his pancreas, giving him type one diabetes. It's crazy. And just so you know, eating a lot of sugar does NOT cause diabetes! I hate that assumption, because it's so not true.**


	27. Twenty-Seven: Needles

**I'm giving you guys one more chapter for tonight. Yay you!**

* * *

**JANUARY 4**

I fiddled with my ID bracelet as I slumped into my seat. It really was amazing how quickly information got around in a high school. It was the first day back after Christmas break, and classes hadn't even started yet, but it already seemed like everybody knew that I'd been diagnosed with type one diabetes.

Then again, I had missed the last week of school just before the break. The news had probably gotten around the school before the break had even started.

But at least I was starting to get it under control. My diabetes. I mean, it seemed like I was constantly going back and forth between highs and lows, but the doctor said that can happen, when we're still trying to figure out the right dosage and type of insulin. But I was able to recognize the symptoms, and I could get it taken care of pretty quickly. Until we had all of the insulin stuff figured out, and had my bloodsugars staying within a certain range, I did have to go to the doctor almost every week.

Major suckage.

I was hoping it wouldn't take much longer for it to be stabilized enough that I wouldn't have to see the doctor every week.

I wasn't paying much attention as my classmates came in and took their seats around me. I knew I was getting some sympathetic looks, but I ignored them. I wasn't interested in seeing everyone's pity.

Then a pale, freckled hand flicked my bracelet. "Sweet med tag, Needles."

I looked toward the voice. It was somewhat familiar. Willow Griffin, the girl I'd met at the hospital a month ago, was sliding into the seat right beside mine. I frowned at her. "Needles?" I wasn't really offended by the nickname - she hadn't said it with any kind of malice or disdain or anything.

She shrugged. "You are diabetic, right? And I never did catch your name at the hospital."

"Oh, sorry." I hadn't realized that I'd never told her my name in our first meeting. "It's Stryker. My name's Stryker."

She looked me up and down. "That's not…what I was expecting. Not at all. I pegged you more as a Trevor or an Allen or something like that."

I scrunched up my nose. "Really?"

She shrugged again. "Yeah. Don't judge, okay? I just thought that you looked like a Trevor or an Allen. Do you have a last name, Stryker?" She gasped dramatically. "Oh my gosh. You're one of those one-name-guys, aren't you? Like a gangster? Stryker is just the name you chose, isn't it? Your friends are probably Blade, T-Bone, and Pitbull. Or something equally stupid."

I laughed. I was pretty sure that she was just joking, and I thought she was pretty funny. But I had to tease her back. "What? Are you saying Stryker is a stupid name?"

She narrowed her eyes at me. "I feel like this is a trap..." she trailed off.

I laughed again. "It's not a name I gave myself, although I do like it. My mom actually gave me the name Stryker. It's on my birth certificate. And she's not a gangster, before you can suggest it. She just likes unique names. My friends aren't gangsters either. I'd say Adrian, Tyler, and Thomas are pretty normal names. My last name is Pendragon."

Her green eyes widened. "No way. Are you related to Arthur Pendragon, CEO of Camelot Corporation?"

"You've heard of him," I stated. I was actually a little surprised. She'd only been at the school for an hour, at the most, and she moved from Nebraska.

She snorted. "Who hasn't? You seriously can't go far in this city without hearing the Pendragon name. He's practically a celebrity, which is crazy because he runs a tech company. _Are_ you related to him?"

"He's my grandpa."

"Awesome. So, how's the whole diabetic thing going?"

Now it was my turn to shrug. "Eh. I'm figuring it all out, but it's taking some time. And it's weird to get used to, all the carb counting and testing and stuff. I'm getting there, just not as quickly as I'd like. Still not happy about it. But unfortunately, I can't change it. How's your grandma, by the way? You said she had lung cancer?"

Willow gave a sad smile. "They say she's got about four months left."

"Oh my gosh. I'm sorry. What about chemo or something? Is that not an option in her case?"

"She did chemo. It went away for a while, then came back twice as strong. And now it's spread to some of her other organs. It's progressing way too quickly. There's nothing else the doctors can do. It's why my mom wanted to be here. The best we can do is make her comfortable in her last few months."

"Willow, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. It's a part of life. A really crappy part of life, but still. Like you said, it can't be changed. Hey, I was wond–"

"Dude," Adrian said, rushing into the classroom. He sat on the corner of my desk.

I sighed. "What? Why are you in my history class? Don't you have P.E. right now?"

"The bell hasn't rung yet. You know I'm never on time, anyway. Calm down. Listen, I finally found a cheat to help us get past that stupid manticore. Somebody posted it on the forum just last night."

Willow shook her head. "Don't try it. It's a crash code. It'll crash your whole game and erase all the memory. All your characters will start at the very beginning. Level one, _and_ they'll lose their ranking. You _really_ don't want to use that cheat."

Adrian and I stared at her in shock. "What?" she said. "You _are_ talking about The Five Kingdoms, right?"

We both nodded.

"My cousin tried that cheat code almost as soon as it was posted online. He lost everything. It was like he'd just opened the game from the package." Adrian and I both winced. That would totally suck. "Luckily, my character wasn't a part of his campaign, or I would have lost her, too. I was part of another cousin's campaign, but she's stopped playing, so I'll need to find a new group to play with. There's only one way to beat the manticore. You can't use a cheat. Well, not a cheat like that."

"How do you defeat it?" I asked.

"You need a level ten wizard. The manticore can only be defeated with an element spell, and only a level ten can do that."

I frowned. "Wait. There is no element spell. I'm a level ten wizard, and that hasn't been an option."

She got this smirk on her face. "There's a secret level where you can learn it. Right before you get to the town that the manticore is destroying, there's a little broken well. Over by the tavern. If you jump into that, you can play a challenge round. If you beat the round, you learn the spell. That's the only way to defeat the manticore. My cousin didn't believe me, so he tried the cheat code. His loss."

"Man. So we have to go _back_ a level?" Adrian asked.

Willow smirked. "Or you could have someone who already knows the spell join your campaign."

"Like who? Stryk's the only wizard in the group. We don't really know anybody else who plays."

"I'm a level eleven wizard. And I know the spell. I can defeat the manticore for you. And like I said, I'm not part of a campaign right now."

My jaw dropped. "Join our campaign," I said.

"Marry me," Adrian said at the same time.

Willow just laughed. "Yes to the first offer, no to the second."

* * *

**Confession: I don't really know much about video games. I'm totally making this all up as I go. I don't know if you can...transfer characters like that. I know you can in Dungeons and Dragons, but that's not a video game (I don't think so, anyway). So even if there's no video game like this that actually exists, we're going to pretend that it does in this story. In my head, Stryker's story is set slightly in the future (though I'm trying not to be specific about it on purpose), and so maybe something that would exist by that time.**

**And one more thing: The nickname Needles. I know that some diabetics might take offense at any kind of nickname about their disease. I'm not one of those. To me, as long as the person using the nickname isn't being rude about it, I don't mind it. It all depends on _how_ they're saying it. Not everybody who is diabetic will feel the same. **


	28. Twenty-Eight: Never Work

**MARCH 9**

I sat down at the lunch table with my friends, having just come back from the nurse's office. I had to go there to get my shot before I could eat. And then I had to make sure that I ate everything that I took insulin for, or my bloodsugar would go low.

Being diabetic at school was even worse than just being diabetic.

Although it _did_ stop my friends from stealing my food, so I guess that was a plus. They used to steal my food all the time. Now that I was diabetic, they left it alone. They didn't want my bloodsugar to go low, showing once again that my friends could be pretty understanding and considerate when it really counted.

Willow looked at me as I started eating – she'd become part of our group that first day back from the break. It was an easy fit. The rest of the guys thought she was awesome and welcomed her without question into our group of friends. "You know, you don't _have_ to go to the nurse's office to get your shot. We don't care if you do it here at the table."

Ty made a face. "Uh, yes. We do care."

Willow rolled her eyes.

"_Most_ of us don't care, except for the big baby over here." She fit in so well with our group, she really did. She could give back any crap that was thrown at her. She was _amazing_ at the Five Kingdoms. She could act, though she didn't like acting enough to join the drama club. She was funny. She was girly but not _really_ girly. She usually wore a funny tee-shirt. Today, her shirt said, "I tried to be normal once. Worse two minutes of my life."

Adrian kept asking her to marry him, even though he had a steady girlfriend. He was just saying it to be a doofus.

"I actually can't," I told Willow. "School rules. They might be worried that I'm going to share my needles with my classmates, so I have to keep everything in nurse's office."

She rolled her eyes again. "To do _what_? Drugs? Seriously? Didn't you switch over to the pens instead of the vials and syringes? You can't use those kinds of needles for _drugs_. I'm sorry, but that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

"Yeah, I think it's pretty dumb. And I switched over just last week." When I first started taking the shots, I'd been using regular needles, and vials of insulin. But I'd switched over to what was called an insulin pen – at least for my Humalog; the nighttime Lantus was still with a vial and a syringe. The pen was more portable, kind of like an Epi-pen. But the needles were ones that could _only_ be used with an insulin pen. So Willow had a point. It's not like they could be used for drugs or anything.

Ty shuddered. Willow, Tommy, and Adrian were never bothered by me talking about needles and stuff, but Ty…He hated needles more than I had when I'd been diagnosed. I was no longer bothered by needles. "How can you guys talk about needles so easily? They give me the creeps."

"Um, maybe because it's part of my life? Quite being such a baby. Get over it. You're not the one who has to actually _take_ the shots."

We were quiet for a little while, just eating. Then Tommy grinned at me. "So I know that things have been totally crazy for you the past few months, but do you still have a crush on Brittany?"

"Brittany who?" Willow asked.

I narrowed my eyes at Tommy. "Why?" I asked slowly, ignoring Willow.

"Yes or no. Do you?"

"Yes."

"She just broke up with her boyfriend this morning. You should ask her out. I mean, wait a few days first. You don't want to ask her too soon."

Willow looked extremely frustrated. "Brittany _who_? There's like, ten Brittanys in this school."

"Brittany Gold. She's one of the volleyball players," Adrian explained. He pointed to a girl with long, blonde hair and super-model legs sitting a few tables away from us. "That's Brittany. And Stryk has a major crush on her."

Willow scowled. "Are you serious? You have a crush on _her_?" She _tsked_, shaking her head. "She's in my speech class. You could do so much better, Stryker. You really could."

"What's wrong with her?" I demanded.

"Are you serious?" she asked again. She turned to look at the rest of my friends. "Is he serious?"

Adrian frowned. "What's your deal? Brittany's hot."

"That's it? Just hot?"

Tommy shrugged.

"Guys, seriously. You have _got_ to think about more than just whether a girl is hot or not. I'm sorry, Stryker, but it would never work between you and her. Not for long, anyway."

"Why not?"

She pinched the bridge of her lightly freckled nose. "Men," she muttered under breath. "Stryker, do you like to play volleyball?"

"No."

"Do you like to _watch_ volleyball?"

"Not really."

"Do you know how to read sheet music?"

I had no idea what that had to do with anything, but… "Yes."

She looked surprised. "Wait, really?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I play the guitar. My dad taught me how to read sheet music and play the guitar when I was four. My dad's written some songs, too. I can't write songs, but I can read them. And play them. I can sing, too, though I wouldn't say I'm amazing at it."

"Huh. Interesting. I did not know that. Anyway, what about choir?"

I grimaced. "No way. I hate singing in a choir."

"That's not what I meant. Do you like _going_ to choir concerts?"

"No. Why?"

"Brittany's _in_ choir. Did you really not know that?"

I shook my head.

"Did you happen to know that she writes a fashion column for the school newspaper?" Again, I shook my head. I'd had no idea that Brittany was involved in so many things. "I'm guessing you probably didn't know that she's on the polo team, either. You know, that game you play on horses. Where you hit a ball with some kind of stick. I think. I don't know what that game is all about."

"Wait," Adrian said, "we have a _polo_ team? Since when?"

"Um, how would I know? I'm still pretty new here. But I guess it shouldn't be surprising for a school that's big on _fencing_ to have a polo team, too." Willow shook her head in despair. "You guys are just sad. Seriously. Stryk, you hardly know anything about her. She also does cotillion balls. I'm telling you, it will never work. You, with a debutante? Please."

She said the word _debutante_ like she was some English princess.

"How do you know so much about her?" I wanted to know.

"Like I said, she's in my speech class. She _really_ likes to talk about herself. I don't think there's anybody else in that class that talks about themselves as much as she does."

Ty gave me a look of sympathy. "You know, I think I've got to agree with Willow on this one. You and Brittany don't have anything in common."

"Thank you," Willow said to him. "I'm glad _somebody_ in this group has some sense."

"Whatever. Haven't you ever heard the saying that opposites attract?"

"Yeah, but you have to have _something_ in common, or you'll never have fun together," Willow said.

I shook my head. "You two are wrong. I'm going to ask her out. I think we'll be great together."

Willow threw her hands up in the air, obviously frustrated with me.

* * *

**So I'm going to up another chapter in just a few minutes. Mostly because I doubt I'll have any time tomorrow to post one. So you get two today.**


	29. Twenty-Nine: Asking Brittany

**MARCH 23**

"You can do this," Tommy said, as I stood up. I had just finished eating my lunch, and I was _going_ to ask Brittany out. I wasn't going to chicken out. Again.

"Yeah," Adrian added, smirking widely. "Just make sure you don't chicken out like you did yesterday."

"I didn't chicken out." Even though I did.

"Yes, you did," all four of my friends replied. And they were all laughing! Even their girlfriends - who had sat with us at lunch today; they didn't sit with us every day - were chuckling. Ty had started dating Tamara last week, and Tommy had asked Michelle out two days ago.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, yeah. You're all _real_ supportive. Thanks a lot," I muttered sarcastically.

Willow sighed. "Look, Stryker. I still think that you could do _so_ much better than her, but…You'll be fine. Just go ask her out. Stop stressing yourself out about it. I'm sure she'll say yes. In fact, I'm almost positive that she will. She thinks you're pretty hot."

"Wait, she does?" That was news to me. _Why_ hadn't Willow said something sooner? How long had she known?

She rolled her eyes. "_Duh_. Most girls in the school think you're hot."

Alexis, Michelle, and Tamara all nodded. "It's true," they said.

Willow smirked. "It's amazing what a girl hears in a bathroom. You guys do realize that I could give you the inside scoop on what girls thought about you, if you just asked me, right?"

Alexis chuckled. "I'm sure that thought never even crossed their minds, Willow. They're _guys_."

"Stryker, get over yourself and go ask her!" And with that, Willow gave the back of my legs a good kick, propelling me toward Brittany.

I sent her a glare over my shoulder. Then I took a deep breath and walked up to Brittany, who was just getting ready to leave the cafeteria with her friends. Eliza and Jennifer, I think their names were. Brittany never seemed to go anywhere without them.

"Hey, Brittany," I said. "Can I ask you something?"

She turned toward me, looking me up and down. She smiled slightly, waving for her friends to go on without her. They did, giggling and whispering to themselves as they left. "What's up, Stryker?"

I squared my shoulders and asked, "Are you seeing anybody right now?" I knew that she wasn't.

Her smile widened slightly. "I'm not. Why do you ask?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to go out with me. This Friday. On a date."

"Yeah. Sounds good. Let me see your hand."

A little confused, I held out my right hand – the one without the medical bracelet. I was pretty sure that she knew about my diabetes, but...I didn't want to draw attention to it if she didn't. Not so soon. She pulled a pen from her purse and wrote a number on my palm. "Call me tonight, okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Okay."

She pressed a kiss to my cheek - she was only a few inches shorter than me - and then left the cafeteria.

I felt a huge grin pull at my lips. She said yes! I was hoping that this relationship would go much better than my last one.

Still grinning widely, I sat back down beside my friends.

"I told you she'd say yes," Willow stated, dunking one of her fries into ketchup. It was crazy. She had a bigger appetite than most of the guys in my group – except Tommy – but she stayed pretty thin. Part of that was because she took a run every evening. But I was pretty sure she also had a freakishly fast metabolism.

"Of course she said yes," Adrian said. "She'd be crazy not to. Just like _you'd_ be crazy not to say yes to marrying me."

Alexis just rolled her eyes. She was used to Adrian being an idiot.

Willow snorted, not even looking at him. This was pretty much a daily routine between them. "No way. I'd rather marry Darth Vader."

I laughed. "Ooh, ouch, Adrian."

He didn't look too offended. He was never serious about any of his proposals to Willow. He just thought it was funny. I was pretty sure that if he was serious about it, Alexis would kill him. She didn't seem bothered by it. "Why do you hate me so much?" he asked, pulling his expression into one of mock pain.

"I don't hate you, Adrian. I like you as a friend, but I'd probably end up killing you if you were my husband. I don't know _how_ your girlfriend can stand you."

"Hey, Alexis loves me. Don't you, babe?" He looked over at his girlfriend.

She shrugged. "Most days."

"Why?" Willow asked.

Adrian shrugged, grinning. "Hell if I should know."

We all laughed at that.

"What about you two?" Willow asked, looking at Tommy and Ty. "Do your girlfriends _love_ you?" She gave Michelle and Tamara a wicked grin.

They shook their heads, even though both of their girlfriends were sitting with us.

"Way too soon for that," Ty said.

Tamara nodded. "Yeah, we're not quite there yet."

"And Michelle and I have only been dating for two days," Tommy told us. "What about you, Willow? Don't you have a crush on anyone?"

She snorted. "Like I would tell you guys. You're worse than a bunch of girls when it comes to this stuff. Seriously."

Michelle grinned slightly. "It's true, though. These guys gossip like crazy."

Adrian smirked at Willow, ignoring Michelle. "I knew it, Willow. You're secretly in love with me."

Alexis lightly punched his arm while Willow threw a fry at his face and said, "You're an idiot."

* * *

**Hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you're thinking of it so far! I love hearing from you guys!**


	30. Thirty: Gone

**JUNE 15**

I knocked on the door as I opened it. The first thing I saw when I entered the apartment was my baby brother. He smiled, and cried out, "Stykuh!" which was about all that he could manage of my name. It was better than what Kenny could say. She could only say _Sty_.

I grinned. "Hey, Roman." I was careful to keep my hand – with the present I'd brought – hidden behind my back as he took super wobbly steps toward me. He fell on his butt about halfway.

Charlie grinned, helping him stand back up. "Hey, Stryker." She glanced behind me, frowning when she didn't see anybody else. "Where's your girlfriend? You were supposed to bring her so I could finally meet her. You've been dating her for _three_ _months_ now and I still haven't met her."

I shook my head. "I told you she wouldn't be here. She and her parents are visiting her aunt in Tennessee. Besides, it's Roman's first birthday. Shouldn't the focus be on him, and _not_ my girlfriend?" And even though we'd been dating for three months, we weren't all that serious. I mean, I really liked her. But I didn't like her as much as I had liked Mal when Mal and I had been dating for three months.

Maybe that was part of the problem. I kept comparing this relationship to the one I had had with Mallory. I knew that I shouldn't - every relationship is different.

And I wasn't planning on breaking up with Brit anytime soon. Despite what Willow thought, we worked together. Things were just going slower than they had with Mal. Probably because we really didn't spend all that much time together. Brittany always had something going on. And sure, Brittany and I sometimes got irritated with each other because we had so many varied interests and opinions, but we always made up. And we never had any _real_ fights.

She jutted out her lower lip. "But I want to meet Brittany. Jon's met her. It's not fair."

"I'll bring her by when she gets back, in the first week of July. You'll get to meet her, don't worry."

"I better. What's hidden behind your back?"

"A present. Where's Jon?"

"He ran to the store to pick up the cake."

"Are more people coming?" I asked. "I thought you guys didn't want to do a big party for him."

She shook her head. "We're not. He won't remember it, anyway. We want to focus on the later years for the big parties. But we are sticking to tradition a bit, and getting him a cake that he can utterly destroy with his cute little hands."

I chuckled. "That is a pretty important tradition. So, should I give him the present now, or wait until after the cake?"

"We'll definitely do presents before cake, but let's wait until Jon gets back. Here, I'll trade you. Baby for present."

So I handed her the wrapped present. She let go of Roman's hand, and he wobbled his way toward me. I scooped him up into my arms. "Happy birthday, Ro," I said, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

"Stykuh." He reached out and grabbed my cheeks, pulling on them. I swear, that was his favorite thing to do. He did it at least once every time I visited.

I tried to pull away, unsuccessfully. He had a really good grip on my face. "Why do you do that every time I hold you?" I muttered. My words were a little muffled.

Charlie just laughed.

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Real helpful."

Roman giggled and released my face. I tweaked his nose. "You little stinker."

He just giggled again.

Behind me, I heard the door open. I turned, still holding Roman, to see Jon walk in carrying a cake box.

"Daddy!" the baby yelled.

Jonathan smiled. "Hey, birthday boy. Hey, Stryker. When did you get here?"

I shrugged. "Just a few minutes ago."

"How is everything? It's been a couple weeks since we've chatted. How's the diabetes?"

I was getting used to being asked that question by everybody in my family. It got annoying sometimes, but that didn't stop them from asking about it. Every. Single. Time. "Good. I've almost got it under control. I've done pretty well since February. I still have to see the doctor every three months, but my A1C in April was pretty good. Not quite where we wanted it, but closer."

"Okay, explain to me what an A1C is, please. I've heard you mention it before, but I don't understand it."

I sighed, putting Roman on my shoulders. He started using my head as a drum, which I had kind of expected. "It's a blood test that measures the average bloodsugar levels for the past two to three months. My doctor wants me at about a seven-point-five, which is an average bloodsugar of one-hundred and sixty-nine. I'm pretty close. I was at an eight-point-one in April. While I'm a minor, he wants to see me every three months, whether I'm at the target A1C or not. But once I turn eighteen, if I'm at that target of seven-point-five, I'll only have to go in every six months."

Jon nodded. "Well, I'm glad you're close to your goal."

"Me, too. The less often I have to see the doctor, the better." I tickled the bottoms of Roman's feet, getting a giggle out of him. "Let's celebrate this boy's birth."

We started with the presents, and I thought that I did a pretty good job with what I'd brought. I'd found a plush guitar that had buttons he could press. Each button played a different, short song. Roman sure seemed to enjoy it.

We were just getting ready to give Roman the cake when my phone rang. I checked the ID. "Go on without me," I said. "Just make sure to get some pictures, please."

Charlie grinned, holding up a video camera. "I'll do you one better. I'll record it."

I walked away a bit and answered my phone. "Hey, Willow. What's –"

"Stryker," she interrupted, and I could hear the tears in her voice. "She's gone. My grandma died."

"Oh, Willow. I'm so sorry. I'll be right there."

I explained the situation to Jon and Charlie, kissed Roman's head, and left to comfort my friend.


	31. Thirty-One: Funeral

**JUNE 29**

Adrian, Tommy, Ty, and I stood a little farther away, watching the funeral. None of us had really known Annalise Beaumont, Willow's grandmother, but we had come to support our friend. We felt kind of awkward, so that was why we were standing back. We didn't want to intrude on Annalise's family and friends who had come to mourn her.

"Poor Willow," Ty whispered.

I nodded. "Yeah. It sucks when someone you loves dies." I remembered the deaths of my great grandparents. Well, most of them. Grandpa Uther had died just after Bex had been born, and I honestly didn't remember much of his funeral. I didn't really remember much of Grandpa Uther himself. Grandma Ygraine had died when I was eight, Grandpa Balinor when I was nine, and Grandma Hunith when I was eleven.

"Man, I wish everyone would stop crying," Adrian muttered, sniffling a bit himself. "They're making me cry."

I sent him a reproachful look. "Stop being insensitive. It's a funeral. Of course people are crying. Idiot."

"Whatever."

"Are they going to feed us after this?" Tommy wondered. I turned to glare at him. Had he seriously just asked that? "What? Crying makes me hungry, okay?"

"Everything makes you hungry," I snapped. I shook my head in disbelief. I seriously couldn't believe they were acting like this. We might not have known Willow's grandmother, but we knew _Willow_. How could they stand around and talk like this? "You guys are acting like jerks. Willow's grandmother _died_. Can you try being a little more sensitive to that?"

They shut up. We watched the rest of the funeral in silence, listening as several people talked about what a wonderful person Annalise was. Willow stood next to her mom – who looked almost exactly like her – though neither of them said anything. They were hugging each other tightly, both crying softly.

They really only had each other. Willow's mother didn't have any siblings, and her father had one brother who lived in Nebraska. Her father had died when she was ten. Her mother hadn't remarried, though she was seeing someone now. But still, it had been just the two of them for about seven years.

It was pretty similar to the relationship I had with my own mom, now that I thought about it. Mom and I were really close. We always had been, even though it had never _really_ been just the two of us. Not like Willow and her mom.

Mom had lived with Mamie and Pappy until she married Alex, and then she and I moved in with him. So it was never _just_ us.

And yet…it kind of had been. We were a team, Mom and I.

I knew that she sometimes worried that I was ashamed of her, because she'd gotten pregnant with me in high school. She worried that I thought badly of the choices she made in high school. She couldn't have been more wrong, though.

I was _proud_ of my mom. I thought she was one of the most amazing women alive. She'd finished high school with a _baby_. And her grades never declined because of it. In fact, she worked hard and made herself into a better student, again, with a _baby_. Most other people in her situation probably would have dropped out and given up. Or even if they hadn't dropped out, they probably wouldn't have put in much effort. She hadn't done that. She'd worked _hard_. She'd made a good life for herself and for me.

And she'd always, _always_, let me know how much she loved me. She'd never acted like she resented me for changing her life, when that easily could have been her attitude. I had basically ruined her plans. She could have hated me for that. She didn't.

I'd tried explaining all of that to her, on a couple occasions, but I'm not sure that she believed me. She could be a very stubborn woman, my mother.

Looking at Willow and her mom made me glad that I had the relationship that I did with my own mother. It also made me glad that I had a large family that I was close to, and not just my mom. I had a lot of people to support me in tough times. I had grandparents, and aunts and uncles, cousins, even my siblings were supportive.

I was also glad that I could add to Willow's circle of support, however small of a contribution if might have been. It made me glad that I knew that she had at least one more person to lean on when she needed to.

The funeral lasted another twenty minutes. When it was over, Willow came over to where we stood.

She stopped in front of us, wiping away her tears. For once, she wasn't wearing a graphic tee-shirt. Even more surprising was the fact that she was wearing a _skirt_. I'd never seen Willow in a skirt before. "Thanks for coming, you guys. All of you. It means a lot to me."

"Of course," Ty said.

"My mom said you guys are welcome to come to our house for a luncheon." She grinned ever so slightly. "I know that'll make you happy, Tommy. See you all in a few minutes?"

We nodded. She went back to her mom.

* * *

**Okay, so this chapter kind of took a turn that I wasn't originally planning. I had been planning to have more interaction between Stryker and his friends and Willow. And then Stryk's thoughts just kind of went off on a tangent. But I think it's nice to see what Stryker thinks of his mom and the choices that she made. Anyway, there ya go. I think I might give you guys another chapter today, but I haven't decided yet...**


	32. Thirty-Two: Distracted

**JULY 23**

I tucked little Joshua into his small bed. He was fast asleep, finally. The rest of my cousins were already in bed and had been for a while, but Josh had taken a while to fall asleep. He was still really little, and he did not like being away from his parents for as long as he had. He was only about two and a half.

I checked on the rest of the kids, just to be sure they were all still asleep.

Nathan was sprawled across his bed, an open book and a flashlight on his pillow. Shaking my head, I picked up the flashlight and turned it off. I set it on the nightstand. I hunted around for his bookmark, finding it partway under his armpit. I put that in his book and set the book next to the flashlight.

Michael, across the room, was curled up in a tight ball under his blankets. He was snoring softly.

Down the hall, the twins, Emily and Erica, were laying side by side in Erica's bed. I shook my head again, pulling the blanket up so it covered both of them. They had each been in their own beds when I'd put them down. But Aunt Maddie had warned me that they often did that. She said that she and my mom used to do it, too, when they were kids.

I made my way into Aunt Maddie's living room and plopped onto the couch. It had been a long day. Aunt Maddie had gone into labor with Trista about two in the afternoon, and had asked me to watch her kids while she had the baby. It was now ten o'clock. I wondered if it was just a long delivery, or if there had been complications. I hadn't heard anything. I was pretty sure Uncle Sammy would have told me if there were complications.

I sighed, running my hand through my curly hair as I pulled out my cell phone. I made sure it was set on vibrate, so it wouldn't wake my cousins if it rang. Then I texted Willow.

**HEY. YOU DOING ALL RIGHT?**

It had been almost a month since her grandmother's funeral, but she was still pretty upset about it. She'd been pretty distant lately, and I was starting to get kind of worried about her. She was pulling away from me and my other friends, hardly talking to any of us.

She responded after several minutes.

**FINE.**

I frowned. She certainly didn't seem fine to me. Not that I could really blame her. I'd be upset, too. It just seemed odd that as more time went by, the more distant she got. She should have been starting to get better, not the other way around.

**WILLOW, I DON'T THINK YOU'RE FINE.**

**STRYKER, I AM FINE.**

**WILLOW, COME ON. I'M YOUR FRIEND. TALK TO ME.**

She didn't reply.

I sighed. Whatever. If she didn't want to talk to me, fine. I'd let her deal with her grief on her own, I guess.

My phone vibrated. I looked down. Brittany was calling me. My thoughts still on Willow, I answered it, keeping my voice barely above a whisper. "Hey, Brit."

"Hey, Stryk. Um, why are you talking so quietly?"

"Oh, um, I'm babysitting my cousins while my aunt's in the hospital. They're all asleep, so I'm trying to keep quiet. I don't want to wake any of them."

"Oh. I don't envy that," she said. She'd never really been much of a fan of kids. She thought they were obnoxious. To be fair, a lot of them were. "Why is your aunt in the hospital?" I could hear the concern in her voice.

"She's having her baby," I said slowly. I know I'd told Brittany this.

"Oh, that's right. Listen, I wanted to talk to you about a party I want to put together before the first day of school. To celebrate the start of our last year of high school."

"Oh. Okay. What were you thinking?"

She started talking about doing what she called a "sophisticated" pool party. Whatever that meant. I wasn't really listening to her, to be honest. I was worried about Willow. I knew she wasn't fine, not with the way that she'd been acting lately. She'd lost her grandmother, but maybe it was more than that. Maybe there was something else going on. I would think that after a month, she would be starting to get back to normal. Instead, she'd been getting more and more distant every day.

I wasn't sure what I could do to help her, but I wanted to do _something_. She was my friend.

Maybe I _should_ back off, though. I mean, I remembered my friends trying to cheer me up through my break up with Mal. It hadn't really helped, even though I knew that they really wanted to help. Maybe the best I could do was let Willow know that I was here if she need me – which I'd already done. She had to know that I was willing to do whatever I could to help her through this.

"Stryker."

I jumped slightly, refocusing on my conversation with Brittany. Oops. I'd completely zoned out on her. "Yeah?"

"Have you been listening to anything I've been saying?" She was obviously irritated. I hadn't meant to totally ignore her like that.

"You want to do a pool party." I wasn't really sure what else she'd said, but I knew that much.

"And?"

"Uh…"

She sighed. "You know what? I'll call you tomorrow. Maybe you won't be so distracted by your _friend_ Willow."

She hung up.

A few minutes later, I realized that I'd never said anything about Willow to her. How had she known that I'd been thinking about Willow?


	33. Thirty-Three: Lying

**AUGUST 16**

I paused the game. None of us were really into it, anyway. It was weird, having only four of us playing. It just wasn't quite the same. "Have any of you guys heard from Willow?" I asked. She hadn't joined in our daily game-playing for three weeks now, which was _really_ unusual for her. She loved playing and proving how much better she was than us guys. Because truthfully, she _was_ better. Not that we would ever admit that to her. I mean, come on. No self-respecting man admitted out loud that a girl played better than him.

"No," Ty said. "I haven't talked to her in three weeks. Not really. Just vague text responses if I ask her how she's doing. You know, with her grandmother's death. But she never instigates the conversation. _I_ have to text _her_, and then I only get vague replies."

"Same here," Tommy said.

"I talked to her just the other night. I called her on the phone, because I was getting nowhere with the texts," Adrian admitted. "I got the same thing. Just vague responses. She's not okay, guys. I don't care what she says. It's been two months, and she doesn't seem to be doing any better."

"I know," I replied. "I'm really worried. I even called her mom yesterday. She said Willow didn't want to talk. I'm really worried. I'm wondering if there's something else going on, more than just her grandma dying."

"Maybe we should go to her house," Ty suggested. "Talk to her. She can't blow us off as easily if we're at her house."

"Not all of us," Adrian disagreed. "I think it might be better if just one of us goes."

"Who?" Tommy wanted to know.

"Stryker."

I arched my eyebrows in surprise. "Why me?" I asked. Not that I was unwilling to go. I was just surprised to have been nominated.

I could practically hear Adrian roll his eyes. "Dude, she's closer to you than the rest of us. You were kind of friends with her before any of us were. Maybe she'll listen to you."

I snorted. "She hasn't so far."

"Maybe she will if it's just you who shows up at her house unannounced."

Adrian was probably right. Hopefully. I sighed. "All right. I'll go. I'll let you guys know if I'm successful." I saved the game and grabbed my keys.

"Mom!" I hollered, as I pulled on my shoes. "I'm going to stop by Willow's place to check on her! Be back in a bit!"

"All right. But can you come grab Kenny real quick?" Mom said from the kitchen. "I've got my hands full of groceries, and she's right under my feet."

I entered the kitchen and scooped Kensley into my arms. I blew a raspberry on her belly button, which got a little giggle out of her.

Mom smiled at me. "Thanks, little man. The play pen is in the living room. Can you pull it in here and put her in it so I can finish getting these put away? She's being extremely clingy today, and it's not very helpful to me at the moment."

"Sure."

I did that, kissing Kenny's cheek before putting her in the play pen. Then I left, driving to Willow's house.

I didn't see her mom's car out front, but that didn't surprise me. Willow's mom was a doctor, and worked weird hours. It was probably one of the reasons that Willow had never been freaked out by the idea of needles and stuff. She'd volunteered at the hospital before. She hadn't really decided what she wanted to do after high school, as far as I knew, but I wouldn't be too surprised if she went into the medical field. She'd be good with kids, especially the older kids. Teens and stuff. She doesn't sugarcoat things, which is usually about the last thing that a teen wants to hear.

I got out of my car and walked to the front door. I knocked.

Nothing.

I knocked again, a little louder. If I had to, I would just stand there and keep knocking until she answered. I knew she was home. Her blue Focus was out front.

After my third round of knocking, the door finally opened. Willow stood there, a slightly surprised look on her face. "Stryker. What are you doing here?"

"Checking up on you. I'm worried about you. We all are."

She scowled. "We?"

"Um, your friends? I know that you're upset about your grandmother, but –"

"I'm not," she cut in. "I mean, I _am_, but that's not what's going on right now. I'm getting used to Grams being gone. I knew it was coming."

I frowned. "Then what _is_ going on?"

She shook her head. "It doesn't matter."

"Yeah, it does. Willow –"

"Stryker," she interrupted again, but this time she looked concerned. She studied me closely. "Are you all right? You're pale. And shaking. How's your bloodsugar?"

I thought for a minute, getting a sense of what my body was trying to tell me. Of all the times... "Crap. I'm low." I should have realized it sooner. I knew what the symptoms were.

"Do you have something to eat or drink?"

I sighed, shaking my head. "No. I rushed out the door without even thinking about it." I usually tried to make sure that I had something with me, in case this happened. But I had forgotten all about it.

"Come on. I think I've got some orange juice." She pulled me inside and got me a glass of orange juice. After I drank it, I tried again to get her to tell me what was going on, if it wasn't about her grandmother.

Nothing. All she did was plaster on a fake smile and insist that nothing was wrong and that she'd be getting back to her normal self in no time. She apologized for being so out of it lately, and told me that we had nothing to worry about. She was fine.

She was lying.


	34. Thirty-Four: Not Right

**So...I'm feeling generous today. I'm giving you two chapters! Yay you! I hope you enjoy this one. He, he. I enjoyed writing it.**

* * *

**AUGUST 19**

I sat at the kitchen table, tapping the metal part of my bracelet against the wood. Willow was trying to act normal again, like nothing was wrong. She'd been trying – and failing – since I'd talked to her a couple days earlier. Now she was trying to pretend like there was absolutely nothing going on.

We all knew that wasn't true. We all knew that something was up, even if she wouldn't tell us. We were even more suspicious of her than before, because it was so obvious that she was trying to fake it.

Dad came down the stairs, carrying Kensley in his arms. "Stryker," he said, when he saw me. "What are you doing?"

"Just thinking."

"Ah. Any chance you do a _huge_ favor for me?"

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously at him. He had a funny tone in his voice. "What kind of favor?"

"Well, I need to run down to the store to get a few things. The sink in Bex's bathroom is acting up, and I want to get it fixed today if I can, but I need to get some different tools and stuff before I try anything. Your mom is spending some time with her twin, and I don't know when she'll be back. Could you watch your brothers and sisters for a little while?"

I grinned at him. I just had to tease him. "You should know that I charge a hundred dollars an hour. Per kid."

Dad rolled his eyes. "Very funny. You should consider being a comedian for a living."

"Yeah, I'll watch them. No charge." I took Kensley from him, setting her down on the table in front of me. Kenny had also gotten Dad's reddish-brown hair, though it seemed to get a little darker every day. She would probably end up with a really dark brown, with just a hint of red in it. And she'd gotten Dad's green eyes. Bex was the only one who'd gotten Mom's blue eyes.

"Thanks. The twins are watching a movie in the theater room. And Bex is upstairs in her room, listening to music, I think. She might come down at some point, I'm not sure. I don't think I'll be gone for very long." He waved at my baby sister. "Bye, Kenny. Daddy will be back."

She grinned widely. "Buh, Dada."

Dad clasped my shoulder once in thanks before he left.

I smiled at Kensley. "Hey, Kenny."

"Styk," she said, and reached out to grab my lower lip.

I pulled back before she could actually grab it. Between her and Roman, I was surprised that my face wasn't riddled with bruises. They both loved to pull on various parts of my face. And I wasn't always fast enough to pull away before they could.

"Be nice, Kenny."

She reached for my hair and yanked.

"Ouch. That is not nice, Kensley Amala."

The doorbell rang, and I heard Bex yell, "I got it!" A moment later, the door opened and closed, and then my sister was hollering again. "It's your girlfriend, Stryker!"

"I'm in the dining room!" I called back.

Brittany walked into the dining room, looking slightly amused. "Your brothers are on top of the pool table, just so you know. I'm not sure if they're trying to breakdance, or if they're having seizures."

I sighed. "Great. Here, hold Kenny a minute, please?"

I handed her the baby, ignoring her slight scowl – Brit wasn't exactly a fan of kids. Then I rushed into the billiards room.

Sure enough, the twins were _on_ _top_ of the pool table, laughing and dancing like little maniacs. "Jaxson! Cayson!" I said loudly, startling both of them. They looked at me, and then scrambled down off the table. "You guys can't climb on top of the pool table. You know that. You'll break it."

"Sorry," they muttered together.

"Don't do it again. Go play in your room if your movie is over."

They ran off.

Shaking my head, I rejoined Brittany in the dining room. She immediately passed Kensley to me. "Stryker, do you actually like me?" she asked.

I stared at her. I had not been expected that. How could she think that I didn't like her? Why would she feel the need to ask? "What? Of course I do. I like you a lot." And I did. I didn't think I was in love with her, but I definitely liked her. A lot.

"Really? Because there are times when it doesn't feel that way."

I was totally confused. "What do you mean?"

"I know that you don't really like any of the things that I like. And to be honest, I don't really like any of the things that you like. So a lot of our dates are just awkward. You hardly ever even listen to me when we're talking anymore. I swear, everything I say just goes in one ear and out the other. You don't pay any attention. All you seem to be able to think about and talk about lately is Willow."

_That's_ what she was upset about? "Sorry, but she's my friend, and something's up with her. I'm worried about her. So are the rest of my friends."

Brittany rolled her eyes. "And you are _so_ blind. She's in love with you, Stryker. And I'm starting to think that you're in love with her, too. You just don't know it."

"What? That's crazy. Willow is _not_ in love with me. And I am no–"

She held up her hand, cutting me off. "Yes, she is. That's why she's acting the way she is. And I'm pretty sure that you are, even if _you_ can't see it. It's pretty obvious to me. You should be dating her, and not me. I'm sorry, Stryker, but you and I…We're not going anywhere in this relationship. And we haven't been for a while. We're not right for each other. Sure, we both like each other. But even if you weren't in love with Willow, you and I wouldn't last much longer. Let's be honest. We have nothing in common, and it's making things kind of awkward."

She started to leave, saying over her shoulder, "Go ask Willow out."

* * *

**To be perfectly honest, I never meant for him to stay with Brittany for too long. They were never right for each other.**


	35. Thirty-Five: Better Late Than Never

**AUGUST 21**

I couldn't believe Brittany was _right_. I couldn't believe that I hadn't realized it myself earlier. It was so painfully obvious now.

I had been thinking about what she'd said almost nonstop for the past three days, and I'd come to the conclusion that she was right.

I was in love with Willow Griffin. I think I had been for a while. I had just never realized it.

I wasn't sure if she was right about Willow being in love with me, too, but I sure hoped she was.

I had no way of knowing, though, because Willow wasn't answering my phone again. I'd tried calling her last night, once I'd wrapped my head around my own feelings, but she never answered. And I'd tried again just an hour ago. Apparently, she was going back to ignoring us. It seemed like I'd have to stop by her house again if I wanted to talk to her.

What would she say, though? _Did_ she feel the same way? There was only one way to find out, I guess.

I left my room in a rush, grabbing my keys on the way. I made sure to grab a snack, too, in case I got low again.

Dad, getting dinner started in the kitchen, looked at me in surprise. "Where are you off to in such a rush?" he asked.

"Willow's," I said with a grin.

His surprise disappeared. "Ah. Finally realized you were in love with her, huh? It's about time, buddy."

I stared at him. "You _knew_?"

Dad laughed. "I guessed. I was almost certain after the way you reacted to Brittany breaking up with you a few days ago. You weren't even upset. So I'm guessing that you realized that you loved Willow, and not Brittany. Otherwise, I'm sure you would have been at least a little bit upset about breaking up with Brittany."

"Was it really that obvious?"

He shrugged. "To some people."

"Mom guessed?"

"Definitely."

"Why didn't either of you say anything?"

He shrugged again. "We thought it was something you should figure out on your own. We didn't really think it would take you so long, though. Go. If you're not back in time for dinner, we'll save you some."

I nodded and left, quickly driving to Willow's house.

I knocked rapidly on the door, hoping it was Willow who answered and not her mom. If her mom answered, I was sure that Willow would have her tell me to call or come back later.

Thankfully, Willow was the one who pulled the door open. She looked extremely surprised, then slightly suspicious. "What is up with the giant smile on your fa–"

I pulled her toward me and kissed her on the lips. I'd had a small growth spurt over the summer – probably the last one I'd have – and had just reached six-two. Willow was five-seven, so I had to lean down a bit to kiss her.

I pulled away, blushing just slightly. That had not been my plan. "Uh, sorry. I hadn't meant to do that. I was going to talk to you fir–"

"Shut up," she said. And then _she_ kissed _me_. She pulled away with a small sigh. A grin pulled at her mouth. "You have no _idea_ how long I've wanted to do that."

I grinned, and opened my mouth to respond.

But Willow suddenly gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. "Oh my gosh. What about Brittany? Oh, I shouldn't have done that. I mean, I really wanted to. But you're dating Brittany. This is wrong. We can't be kissing while you're seeing somebody else."

"Willow, I'm not seeing Brittany anymore. She and I broke up."

"When? Why?"

"Three days ago. She pointed out to me that we didn't really have much in common, like you said." A knowing smirk pulled at Willow's lips. "Yes, I know, I know. I should have just listened to you to begin with. Anyway, she also mentioned that I didn't really seem to like her. Not the way I like _you_. I would have told you sooner, if you'd answered your stupid phone."

She bit her lip. "Sorry about that. It's just…I've had a small crush on you since I met you. But it was obvious that you didn't like me that way, and so I was content with just being your friend. I figured I'd get over you soon enough. But I didn't. And then, when Grams died, you were so sweet and supportive and just _there_. It made me realize that it wasn't just a small crush anymore. It was a _huge_ crush, and it wasn't going away anytime soon. I tried distancing myself, but that didn't work. So then I tried pretending that nothing was wrong. That didn't work, either. So I went back to distancing myself."

"I'm sorry it took me a while to realize it."

She shrugged. "Better late than never, I guess."

I thought about telling her that I loved her, but then I decided against it. I didn't want to ruin things before they even got started by saying it too soon, just in case she didn't feel that strongly just yet. There would plenty of time to say it later.

Even if that was the way I felt, I could wait to actually _say_ it.

"So," Willow said, lacing her fingers through mine, "this definitely means that we're boyfriend and girlfriend, right?"

"_Duh_. You know it's going to break poor Adrian's heart when we tell him that you're taken."

Willow laughed. "He can go cry to Alexis, I don't care."

"By the way, will you be my date to Jon's wedding in November?" I asked. I hadn't even really considered asking Brittany to go with me, which should have been a clue that I wasn't as into her as I thought I was. Thinking back on it, there were a lot of clues that I totally missed. "I'm his Best Man."

She scrunched up her nose. "That depends. Will I have to wear a dress?"

"At least a skirt. It _is_ a wedding."

"Can I wear Converse, at least? Please tell me I can wear Converse."

I laughed. "The bride is going to be wearing Converse, so you're good."

"In that case, yes. I'll be your date."

She stood on her toes to kiss me again.


	36. Thirty-Six: Jon's Wedding

**NOVEMBER 19**

I held Willow's hand as we made our way through the small crowd to where the wedding party stood. It hadn't been a huge wedding, but it'd had a pretty good turnout.

I stopped next to Jon, who had Roman in one arm, while his other arm was wrapped around Charlie's waist. He looked pretty darn happy, not that I could blame him.

His parents stood beside him, looking stiff. It had been a very casual kind of wedding, and I was sure that they weren't exactly comfortable in this crowd. I should have introduced Willow to them earlier in the day, but…I'd been putting it off. Things were still very awkward between my paternal grandparents and me. But I didn't think I could stall any longer.

Charlie didn't have any parents for me to introduce Willow to. They had died when she was eight, in a car crash. She'd grown up in foster care.

"Willow, I'd like you to meet some people. You've already met my father, Jonathan. And you know Charlie and Roman, of course. These are Jon's parents, Paul and Marie Essiter. They live in Hawaii. Paul, Marie, this is my girlfriend, Willow Griffin."

Willow smiled at my grandparents. "It's very nice to meet you both."

They nodded, still stiff, but didn't say anything.

Charlie clapped her hands, breaking the awkwardness. "Well, I don't know about any of you, but _I_ am ready for some more dancing. And I think I want a turn with my new stepson."

Before I could protest, she yanked me out onto the dance floor.

"You could have asked," I told her, as we started dancing.

"You would have said no."

"I would not," I argued. "Not on your wedding day, at least. Any other day, sure." I wasn't a big fan of this kind of dancing. I looked closely at her. She had been smiling nonstop all day. "You're really happy."

She nodded. "I am. I love Jon a lot. We work so well together. I'm glad that we're finally _married_. And I'm so glad that he's got you in his life now. You're good for him. You're good for me, too. I like having you as a stepson."

I glanced over at Jon, who was dancing with Willow – despite her own protests; she wasn't a fan of formal dancing, either. Roman was in Marie's arms, trying his best to ruin her perfectly sculpted hair. He wasn't being very successful, but I was sure it was just a matter of time. "I want to thank you for that, by the way. I'm glad you encouraged Jon to reach out to me. It's been good to get to know him. Sure, it was awkward at first, but once we got over that awkwardness, it's been great."

She smiled. "I felt it was important. He has regretted the way that he treated you and your mother, for a long time. I felt that he at least needed to say he was sorry for that. I want to thank _you_ for giving him a chance. He's a great guy. He just made some bad choices."

I grinned. "Yeah. It happens to the best of us, right?"

She laughed. "It sure does. How are things between you and Willow? You both look pretty happy together."

I couldn't stop the smile that pulled at my lips. "We are. I'm so glad that we started out as friends first, because I feel like we really got to know each other, without all the pressures of dating. We totally get each other."

"And she understands your diabetes, doesn't she?"

I nodded. "Her mom's a doctor, and she's totally comfortable around this sort of thing. She can sometimes catch my highs and lows before _I_ do. She's not squeamish about the needles and finger poking and all. She's even given me my shot a few times. She's actually really good at it. She's got steady hands."

Charlie's smile widened. "I'm so glad. She seems to be perfect for you, Stryker. She really does."

"I know. I love her, Charlie. I really do."

My new stepmom's eyes widened at that. "Does she know how you feel?"

I shrugged. "I think she's guessed it, but I haven't said anything. Not yet. We've only been an actual _couple_ for three months. And even though I was already in love with her when we started dating, I think it's still just a little too soon to say it."

"Maybe. Just don't wait too long, young man."

"I won't, I won't."

We finished the rest of the song in silence, and then Charlie returned me to my girlfriend with a wink.

I pulled Willow toward me. "Care to dance?" I teased.

She grimaced. "No. No more dancing. Please."

I laughed. "I don't really want to dance, either. Let's go get some punch, then. I see my mom over there. Maybe later we can pull out some crazy rock dance moves or something."

We headed to the punch bowl. Mom and Dad had both been invited to the wedding, and had gladly accepted. There was absolutely no animosity between either of them and Jon, which I thought was great. I didn't think that happened very often in a situation like ours.

I poured Willow a glass of punch before getting myself one, too. I started to drink it.

"Stryker," Mom said sternly. "I don't think that's sugar-free. You should get your insulin _before_ you drink it."

I rolled my eyes. "I won't forget my insulin, Mom," I grumbled.

"I'm just saying. That sugar is going to act faster than the insulin will."

"She's right, Stryk," Willow said gently.

Sighing, I handed my glass to Willow. "Be right back," I muttered. "I'll go get my shot." I was tempted to just do it right there, in front of everyone, but I didn't.


	37. Thirty-Seven: Birthday Breakfast

**Okay, okay. I think that this just might be my absolute favorite chapter...Just saying.**

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**DECEMBER 3**

I could sense somebody leaning right over my face. Sure enough, when I opened my eyes, somebody was right there. But it wasn't who I'd been expecting. I'd expected one of the twins – or both. Or maybe even my mom. She liked to wake me up in weird ways sometimes.

I did _not_ expect my girlfriend.

"Happy birthday!" she said, pressing a kiss to my lips. Then she pulled away with a grimace. "Ugh. You have morning breath."

I chuckled. "What did you expect? I _just_ woke up."

"Well, you'd better go brush your teeth if you want another kiss from me."

She moved off the ladder as I climbed down from my bed. I went into my bathroom, noticing a large paper bag on my desk. "What's that?" I asked, before I started brushing my teeth.

"Birthday breakfast. It's diabetic-friendly, too. Mostly. A ham and cheese omelet, which is carb-free. Two waffles, which add up to thirty grahams of carbs. Syrup. It's sugar-free, but it still has some carbs. About eight, I think, if I measured correctly. Fifteen grahams of orange juice. And a mini cupcake that's seventeen grahams, including the frosting. It's a grand total of seventy grahams, which I know is a little more than you're advised to have at a meal. I think you're supposed to have sixty, right? But it's your birthday. You should be able to splurge a little."

I finished brushing my teeth and smiled at her. "Thanks. Does my mom know you're here?" I asked, washing my hands.

She shrugged. "Your dad does. He was the one who let me in." I was sure that he'd told Mom, then.

We went back into my room and sat on the couch together. She pulled a tray from the bag and set that on my lap. As she started placing food on the tray, I looked at her. "Don't tell me you didn't bring any for yourself. It'd be totally awkward for me to be the only one eating."

"Of course I brought double of everything. Except the cupcake. That's just for you."

"Can you hand me my test kit from my desk? And my insulin is beside it."

"The needles?" she asked, getting to her feet.

"Top drawer, right side."

She gave me my supplies, watching me prick my finger and squeeze a small drop of blood onto the test strip. The thing I really didn't like about testing my bloodsugar – besides the poking – was the fact that it created slight calluses on my fingertips. But there really wasn't anything I could do about that.

After a few seconds, a number flashed on the screen.

137

"That's good. You're in range," Willow said. "Hey, can I poke you?"

I looked at her sideways, as I twisted the needle onto the end of the pen. I loaded the pen with the amount of insulin I would need, but I didn't give myself the shot just yet. "You get way too much enjoyment out of stabbing me."

"Please?"

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. Whatever. Just don't bruise me like you did last time!" She was really good at it, but there were times where she got it in just the wrong spot or at the wrong angle, and it caused a bruise. I did it, sometimes, too. It wasn't completely unavoidable. I just liked to give her a hard time about it.

"I said I was sorry about that! Where do you want it? Your butt?" she asked, with a wicked gleam in her eyes.

"Oh my gosh. No!" Really, I could take the shots anywhere that I could pinch the skin. The doctor had informed me that the "posterior" was sometimes a good place to get a shot. Yeah, my mom had thought that was pretty funny, too. She got a kick out of joking about giving me a shot in my butt. Um, no thanks. "Do it in the arm, please."

"You're no fun." She gently pinched the skin at the back of my upper arm and injected the insulin. I gave her a hard time, but she was actually really good at it. She'd only bruised me a couple of times – certainly no more than I'd bruised myself. I'd let her do it several times now.

"There," she said, placing the cap over the needle. She took the needle off the pen, putting it into the hazardous waste bin on my desk.

I grinned, and started eating the breakfast she'd brought. "Did you make all this?"

"Yeah."

"How'd you keep track of all the carbs?"

"Most of it was made from boxes, so I just made sure to keep track of exactly how much I was making, and I read the nutritional facts on all the boxes."

"It's really –"

"Jaxson!" I heard Mom holler from somewhere upstairs. "Cayson! Boys, how many times do I have to tell you not to use your magic to make Kensley float in the air!"

I froze, about to take a bite of a waffle. I looked at Willow. I hadn't quite gotten around to telling her that my mom and twin brothers had magic.

Her expression was a cross between amusement and shock. "Did your mom just say…_magic_?"

"Um…" I gave a nervous chuckle. "Yeah. The twins have a very active imagination. They like to pretend that they have magic. They insist that everybody else in the house pretend that they do, too. They've been doing this for about a…week now. We've given up trying to argue with them."

"But floating in the air?"

"Some kind of device, I'm sure. They're pretty smart for their age."

She nodded, seeming to buy it.

I sighed in relief. I wasn't _quite_ ready to tell her about the magic in my family.

But then the twins decided to race into my room, _using their magic_ to create small creatures out of soap bubbles – where they got the soap bubbles, I don't know. They were making the bubble creatures dance and sing, "Happy birthday."

I was going to kill them.

They stopped halfway through, and stared at Willow. "Oh," they said together. Then they yelled, "Mom! Stryker has a girl in his room!"

Willow folded her arms, arching an eyebrow at me. "Imagination, huh? So what was that just now?"

"Uh…" I didn't have a good explanation. It wasn't like they could have hooked up soap bubbles to a string or anything. There was absolutely no way to explain this one.

She looked at the twins, and their soap creatures, which were slowly fading away. "Jaxson, Cayson. I have a very serious question for you, and I want you to tell me the truth. Is magic real?" she asked.

"Yes!" they exclaimed. "And we have it!"

"Huh. Cool," she said, leaning back against the couch. "Just the twins? Or do you have magic, too?" she asked me.

I was stunned. I really was. I didn't even think to try to lie, I was so stunned. "Just the twins and my mom. That's all in my house. But Aunt Maddie has magic, and Mamie. Some of my cousins. _How_ are you so chill about this?"

She shrugged. "The world's a strange place. Come on, I believe in things like ghosts. Why wouldn't I believe in magic, when I can clearly see that it's real? I mean, your brothers just made soap bubbles sing and dance. If that's not magic, I don't know what is. Besides, I love you."

"You love me?"

She rolled her eyes. "Don't pretend like you don't love me, too. I know you do. You loved me when you asked me out."

I stared at her.

"Stryker? You _can_ say it out loud, you know."

"I love you," I told her sincerely.

She smirked. "I know."


	38. Thirty-Eight: Christmas

**DECEMBER 25**

I knocked on the door of Willow's house. I was having Christmas lunch with my girlfriend. I'd spent most of the morning with my parents and siblings. And then, on my way here, I'd dropped by Jon's for a few minutes, to drop off their presents. And so I was going to spend a few hours with Willow and her family. Well, her mom and her mom's boyfriend.

Kathleen Griffin, Willow's mom, opened the door. She gave me a huge smile and pulled me inside. "Oh, Stryker," she said, hugging me. "I'm so glad you're here. Merry Christmas."

I grinned. "Merry Christmas, Kathy." The first time I'd met her, even before I'd started dating Willow, she'd insisted that I call her Kathy. She had told all my other friends the same thing.

"Come in. Lunch will be in an hour." She narrowed her eyes at me, noticing for the first time the duffel bag I was carrying. "And what do you have in there, young man?"

"Presents," I told her, smirking slightly. She had very thoroughly tried convincing me that I didn't need to get any presents for her or her boyfriend. But I had wanted to get them something anyway. Not just because it would have been weird to show up with a present just for Willow, but because I genuinely liked Kathy and Charles.

"I thought I told you not to worry about getting us any presents."

I shrugged. "I didn't listen. Obviously."

"Little stinker," she muttered.

"Yep. I get it from my mother. Do you need any help with lunch?" I asked, setting the bag near the Christmas tree.

She shook her head just as Charles poked his head out from the kitchen doorway. He grinned at me. "We've got it, Stryker. But thank you for the offer. Go hang out with Willow. She's in her room."

"Leave the door open!" Kathy called, as I turned toward the hallway.

I sent Kathy a smirk over my shoulder. "You take the fun out of everything," I said. I never could have gotten away with teasing Brittany's mom like that. Or even Mallory's. But Willow's mom was amazing and absolutely adored me. I was pretty sure that I could get away with just about anything with her.

She laughed. "Go. Before I change my mind and make you two sit in the living room, under my _very_ watchful eye."

I made my way to Willow's room, where I could hear the sounds of a _Star Wars_ movie. Her door was already opened, so I knocked on the doorframe and leaned against it.

Willow paused the movie and looked up. "I don't think your mom trusts me alone with you," I told her.

She chuckled. "You're a hormonal teenage boy. Of course she doesn't trust you alone with me. What are you doing here so early? I wasn't expecting you for another hour."

I shrugged. "I stopped by a little early to see if your mom need any help with lunch. I guess she and Charles have got it under control, though."

"Yeah, he's been here since like, eight this morning. He insisted that he wanted to do all of the cooking, but he hasn't been able to kick Mom entirely out of the kitchen. She kept hovering. I think he finally gave up trying, and is letting her help."

"Looked like it to me." I stepped into her room. Willow's room was…chaotic. Not in a bad way, but it was busy. She had a TV mounted in one corner, with several different gaming stations underneath – including an old Atari that amazingly still worked. There was a small desk by the door, with her laptop on it and random papers strewn across it. Her bed was against the opposite wall. She had a large bookshelf – full – next to her closet.

And just about every inch of her walls was covered. Movie posters, ticket stubs, photos, stickers, quotes. They were everywhere.

"Still coming over to my grandparents' house for dinner?" I asked her, plopping next to her on the bed.

"Duh," she said. She sat up and leaned her head against my shoulder. "I wouldn't miss it. I love your crazy family. Who will all be there?"

I started listing them off. "My parents, of course. My siblings. Us. Aunt Maddie and her family – unless baby Trista is having a rough day again. She was sick the other day, so Uncle Sammy might end up staying home with her, I'm not sure. Aunt Harper and her family. And Mamie and Pappy."

"Sounds fun."

"Sounds _loud_," I corrected her.

"I like loud. Besides, I still have to beat your twin brothers at laser tag."

I laughed. We had a laser tag game that the twins had somehow convinced Willow to play with them one time she came over. She'd lost. Badly, which she was still upset about, apparently. "Nobody beats the twins at that game. They use their magic to cheat."

"I'm determined. I will win, magic or no magic." I just shook my head. It didn't matter how determined she was, she would never beat them. She saw me me and smirked. "Oh, trust me. This time will be different."

I narrowed my eyes at my girlfriend. "What do you have planned?"

She shrugged. "Something."

I decided not to press it. I'd find out soon enough.

Willow turned my face gently and pressed her lips to mine.

"There better not be any funny business going on in there!" Kathy yelled, startling me and Willow apart. Not that we were doing anything wrong. It was just a kiss. And not even a very passionate one!

I frowned at Willow. "Does your mom have some sort of magic or something? How could she tell?"

"No magic. She's just a mom. They seem to know these things."

"Well, it's annoying."

Willow just laughed and kissed me again.


	39. Thirty-Nine: Anti-Valentine's Day

**So, since I haven't updated in three days, I'm going to give you three chapters today. This is the second of three, so there will be another one today after this one! Enjoy! And please, please review.**

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**FEBRUARY 14**

"Wait," Mom said, giving me a strange look, "you want to do _what_?"

I sighed. It really wasn't _that_ weird. "First of all, it _wasn't_ my idea. It was Willow's. But I think she's got a point. Valentine's Day is kind of stupid. It puts way too much pressure on couples to be all romantic and creative. So we're going to have a sort of…Anti-Valentine's Day date. We're going to try to be as un-romantic as possible, basically."

She shook her head. "Your girlfriend is weird."

I smirked. "You know you love her."

Mom sighed. "I do, you're right. So what does this date involve, exactly? And why should I allow you two exclusive use of the theater room?"

"Because if you don't tell them not to, the twins will race in and ruin the whole thing. They'll be extremely obnoxious, unless _you_ convince them to stay out. We're trying to be un-romantic, but I still want to enjoy time with my girlfriend."

Mom narrowed her eyes at me. "You're not going to have sex in there, are you?" she asked frankly.

I blanched. "Mom! No! We're not…Willow and I haven't _done_ that yet. Sheesh. And with the whole family home? What do you think I am? An animal?"

"I think you're a teenage boy. You really haven't had sex yet?" she asked, and she sounded really surprised by that fact.

I covered my warm face with my hand. This was so embarrassing. I mean, it wasn't like we hadn't talked about sex before. My mom was pretty…straightforward about stuff like that. But still. "No, we haven't." I was actually still a virgin, unlike most of my friends. But my mom had always been adamant about not being sexually active unless I was prepared for any and all of the consequences. I wasn't quite ready to be a father yet, so I wasn't going to rush into anything anytime soon. "We're taking things slow."

"Hey, that's smart. You should never rush. Just make sure, when you _do_ take that step, that you're safe about it."

That was something else she was adamant about; safety.

My face got hotter. "Oh my gosh. This is getting a little too awkward for me." It had always been easier to have this conversation when I _wasn't_ dating someone. Now that I was with someone that I loved…Well, it made things more awkward. Even then, this had always been a very awkward topic to discuss with my _mother_. "Can we _please_ talk about something else?"

"What are you going to do on this little date of yours?"

I sighed in relief, glad to be moving _away_ from the topic of sex. Not something I wanted to talk to my mom about, especially not when my girlfriend was supposed to be arriving any second. "We're going to order a pizza and some barbecue wings for dinner, first of all."

Mom nodded, grinning. "Very un-romantic."

"Exactly. We'll probably play some Cards Against Humanity. And we'll watch some horror movies, but we'll watch them while playing our own version of the mustache game."

She frowned, looking confused. "The mustache game?"

"You've never heard of the mustache game? It's been around forever. It's supposed to be an alcohol drinking game, but we're just going to use water. Basically, what you do is tape a mustache onto the screen and watch whatever movie you want. Whenever the mustache lines up with someone's mouth, you have to take a drink. Willow and I are going to add a rule, though: you can't use the bathroom during the movie. The first one to use the bathroom loses the game. Sort of like Water Monopoly."

Mom shook her head. "You know you're not supposed to put that kind of strain on your bladder. It's not good for anybody, but especially not for a diabetic."

I rolled my eyes. I'd gotten the speech about not straining my bladder when I'd been diagnosed. And I was usually really good about that. But... "It's not like I'm doing it on a regular basis. It's just today. Calm down. I'm pretty sure it won't kill me for a couple hours. So, can we use the theater room? Please?"

She sighed. "Fine. I'll convince the twins to leave you two alone."

I grinned, giving her a quick hug. "Thanks, Mom."

"Stryker."

"Yeah?"

"How serious are you and Willow?"

I smiled. "Serious enough that I can't even begin to imagine my life without her. I plan on marrying her someday. I don't know when, but someday."

Mom smiled back. "You love her a lot." She said it as a statement, not a question.

I answered anyway. "I do. I love her with everything that I am. I'm not planning to propose anytime soon, but…someday."

"Well, I'm glad. She makes you happy, and she's good for you. And she helps you keep your diabetes in check, most of the time, which is good. I'm surprised that she's going along with this mustache game, actually."

"I don't know that she really realizes that it's not necessarily the best thing for me."

"Oh, hey, I want you to go onto this website sometime this week," Mom said, handing me a piece of paper with a website written on it. Something medical, so I was assuming it had to do with my diabetes. "Look at the insulin pump designs that they have. Start thinking about what you might want."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Wait…seriously? An insulin pump?"

She nodded. "Your dad and I were talking, and even though you're eighteen, we want to get you an insulin pump. I think it will make it easier for when you go to college. We'd like to get you one now, before you leave, so you have some time to adjust to it."

I hugged her again. "That will be awesome." An insulin pump would be so much less hassle than the stupid pens and stuff. And I wouldn't have to poke myself as often.

The doorbell rang just then, interrupting us.

Mom lightly flicked my nose. "Go. That's probably your girlfriend."

* * *

**Another fun diabetes fact: it really is strongly advised for diabetics to not put any kind of strain on their bladders. They are more prone to UTIs and stuff than most people. It's really not good for any bladder to be strained, but a diabetic's bladder is more...vulnerable, I guess? Maybe that's the right word.**


	40. Forty: Insulin Pump

**Last one for today.**

* * *

**MARCH 23**

"Stryker!" Mom called. "Mamie and Pappy are here! They want to see your pump!"

I grinned at Willow, pausing the movie we'd been watching – she'd come over right after she got out of school. I hadn't seen her since lunch, when I'd been checked out of school, because I'd been at the diabetes center in the hospital, getting my brand-new insulin pump set up. I'd had a short training, too, to make sure that I knew how to operate the thing.

She rolled her eyes. "Okay, I'm super happy for you and all with your new 'plastic pancreas' as you call it, but can you take the excitement down a notch? It's getting kind of annoying."

I shook my head. "No way," I said, getting to my feet.

Willow and I went into the living room, where Mom was sitting on the love-seat, holding Kenny. My maternal grandparents sat in the couch beside the love-seat. Willow took a seat beside my mom, holding out her hands to Kensley. My sister, about a year and a half, immediately went to her. She absolutely _loved_ Willow. Then again, all of my siblings did.

I settled between my grandparents, grinning widely.

"All right," Pappy said. "Let's see this amazing device that you and your mother can't stop talking about."

I pulled the plastic device from my pocket, careful not to get the tubing tangled. "I call it my plastic pancreas, because in some ways it acts just like a pancreas, only it's plastic and outside my body and operated by a battery."

"Okay," Mamie said, squinting at the pump, "explain it. How does it work?"

"It holds a reservoir of insulin here. The reservoir is connected to this tubing." I traced the tube, lifting my shirt slightly to show them. "The tubing connects to what's called an infusion set, which is this little plastic cap thing, the part that is above the skin. There's a thing called a cannula under the skin, sort of like an IV, I guess. But it's not a needle. It's another tube. I have to use a needle to put the cannula in, but once it's in, the needle comes back out. I have to change it every three days. _So_ much better than taking four shots a day. And I don't have to take the long-acting Lantus anymore. Just the Humalog."

"Why's that?" Pappy wanted to know.

"Well, the Lantus gave me a kind of…baseline, I guess you could call it. The pump gives me a tiny bit of insulin every hour, just a few drops, which replaces the need for Lantus. It's called my basal rate. And then I take more at meals. The best part is that I don't actually have to calculate anything. The pump's already been programmed with my sliding scale and how much I'm supposed to take for a certain amount of carbs. I just punch in the numbers, and it does the rest for me. Watch."

I showed them how it worked, putting in zeros so that it wouldn't actually give me any insulin. "And, I can tell it how long to take to give me the insulin. If I eat something like ice cream, I'm going to want most of the insulin right away, because ice cream is a fast sugar. But pasta is really slow. The body can take up to four hours to use all of the sugar from the pasta, so I can program the pump to give me insulin over a period of up to eight hours. Not that I think I'll ever need eight hours, but it's there if I do. That wasn't an option with the vials and syringes."

"That is pretty amazing," Mamie said.

"What about showers?" Pappy asked. "And swimming? Is it waterproof?"

"It's not waterproof. I can take it off. I just twist the infusion set here." I twisted the little cap at the end of the tubing, and pulled it off. The cannula was still in the skin near my navel, but the pump was now unattached. "I have another cap that looks just like the one connected to the tubing, to swap it with. That cap keeps the water out. When I'm not wearing the pump, I can suspend it so it doesn't deliver any insulin. It uses more battery power when it's suspended, but it doesn't waste any insulin."

Pappy nodded, looking impressed. "That's pretty cool. Now, what's this I hear about you not going to Avalon University?"

I grimaced, sending Mom an irritated look.

She shrugged. "Sorry. I didn't realize you were keeping it a secret."

"I'm not, not really," I said. Although I hadn't exactly been excited to tell my grandparents. It was kind of a family tradition to go to Avalon University. I was breaking that tradition. I hadn't been looking forward to telling them that, especially Pappy. Mamie was the kind of person that I was sure she wouldn't care.

"Where are you going?" Mamie asked.

"University of Albion. They have a really good drama department. Avalon University doesn't even _have_ a drama department, which is the reason I've decided to break the family tradition and not go there. I've been accepted to U of A. And Willow's going into nursing there, too. They've got a good nursing program. Now we're just looking for a place close by to rent."

Mamie arched an eyebrow at me. "Together?"

"Yes," I said. I wasn't really worried about my grandparents giving me a hard time about living with my girlfriend. I was pretty sure that they had moved in together before they'd gotten married.

Mom smirked. Uh-oh. I wasn't going to like whatever she said next. "Maybe by the time they move in together, they'll have _actually_ slept together."

"Mom!" My face was burning. I was used to her teasing me about stuff like that, but in front of my grandparents _and_ my girlfriend?!

Willow looked almost completely unfazed. I could see the faintest grin on her lips as she played with my sister and pretended not to have heard my mother. Mamie and Pappy were both grinning, too.

Mom just laughed.

* * *

**Insulin pumps are so much nicer than the shots. I've had mine for about three years now, and I love it. And I'm sorry if the way that I explained it was confusing. It's a simple enough setup, but it just sounds really complicated when I try to explain it. Especially when I can't actually _show_ you each of the parts. Hopefully it at least kind of makes sense. As always, review, review, review!**


	41. Forty-One: Next Step

**Sorry this one is a little shorter. **

* * *

**APRIL 12**

I laced my fingers through Willow's, both of us lying on her bed. Her mom had gotten called into work, and had been leaving just as I'd arrived. She was surprisingly okay with us being alone together. She had given permission for me to stay. I was still a little surprised by that.

"She didn't even _lecture_ me," I said.

Willow grinned. "Because she lectured _me_ before you even got here. She's convinced that we're already sleeping together. She said I'm eighteen now, so it's my choice. I don't think she's exactly happy about it, but, as she said, I'm an adult now. She just wants to make sure that I'm safe, that's all."

My mom was of the same mindset, really. She just wanted me to be smart and safe about it, but she felt that it was my choice as to when exactly I made that next step. And Willow and I…we hadn't done anything yet, but we'd talked about it. We were both virgins, so there was nothing to worry about in regards to our history. Willow was on the pill, because we knew that we would take that next step soon, so there wasn't much chance of pregnancy.

Not much of one, but there was _always_ a chance.

But we were both eighteen. We were almost done with high school. We were committed to each other. We could handle a baby, _if_ it happened. We knew that was a risk, and we were willing to accept that risk, when we did decide to take that next step.

"Willow?" I said, suddenly nervous. I wasn't quite sure why. Actually, I did know why. I was pretty sure we were going to take that step _today_. If Willow was feeling anything close to what I was.

She didn't say anything.

I turned to look at her, and she kissed me fiercely. "You know I love you, right?" she murmured against my mouth.

"I love you, too."

"And you know what I would really love to do right now?"

"Mmm, I can take a guess," I whispered, as her hands roamed underneath my shirt. She pulled my shirt off, tossing it to the floor. She must have been feeling the same way I was.

"How do you have a six-pack?" she wondered breathlessly. "You hardly ever work out."

My heart was racing. I was having a difficult time catching my breath. But I answered anyway. "Yes, I do. Just not at the gym. It's called having siblings."

She groaned. "Don't. Don't talk about siblings. That's guaranteed to kill the mood."

"Sorry," I muttered, kissing her again.

We kissed for a few minutes, then Willow pulled away. I was about to protest, until she took her shirt off. I grinned when I saw her bra. "R2-D2?" I asked. "On your bra?" I shouldn't have been surprised, but I was. Just a little bit.

She smirked. "You know you love it."

"I love _you_," I said.

Her smirk widened even further. She had a wicked glint in her eyes. "My panties match." And then she unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans. She wiggled out of them, throwing them off the edge of the bed.

My mouth went dry.

She was beautiful. A freckled goddess.

She leaned forward and kissed me again. She settled her legs over my waist, straddling me. She shifted her weight, causing me to groan.

Then I felt a sharp tug. I broke away from the kiss. "Hold on, hold on. Stop moving. Your knee is…You're going to pull it out."

She froze, huffing in impatience. "Hurry up and fix it."

"I'm trying!" I did some readjusting, but it didn't do any good. Her knee was in the way. "Okay, um, lift your left knee just a bit."

She did.

I pulled the tubing out from under her and took my pump out of my pants pocket. I tried twisting the cap off to unhook the whole thing, but it wasn't working. My fingers were trembling slightly, which wasn't helping.

"Stryker," Willow groaned. "Come on."

"It's not…clicking."

"So twist harder."

"And rip it out of my skin? No thanks."

She sighed. "Here, let me."

"No," I objected, sure that she'd rip it out painfully in her impatience, but she'd already replaced my hand and twisted the cap off. She set the pump on her nightstand and looked down at me.

She huffed. "Great. Now the mood's gone."

I smirked. "I can fix that." I pulled her back down and kissed her. I rolled us, so I was on top, and began kissing along her neck.

"Okay, mood's back."


	42. Forty-Two: Gossip

**APRIL 15**

Willow and I sat down at the lunch table with our friends, holding hands. I was pretty sure that neither of us had stopped grinning all day. No, all _weekend_. We were in pretty high spirits.

Adrian and Alexis were already there, as well as Ty. It seemed like Tamara wouldn't be sitting with us today, unless she was just running late.

Adrian narrowed his eyes at me, his gaze moving between me and my sexy girlfriend. He opened his mouth to say something, just as Tommy plopped into a chair. Before he could actually speak, though, Willow did.

"Where's Michelle?" Willow asked. "And Tamara?"

"Dentist appointment," Ty said.

Tommy shrugged. "Sitting with her girlfriends."

"Stryker. Willow," Adrian said suspiciously. His eyes were still narrowed.

We looked at him. "Yeah?" we both said.

"_You_ two had sex this weekend. Didn't you? You two _finally_ did the deed."

All eyes turned to us. I tried to school my face into a blank expression. I was pretty sure that a grin was slipping through, though. "I don't know what you're talking about," I lied.

He looked at Willow. "You did, didn't you? You had sex with him." His voice was accusatory. I don't know why. He'd lost his virginity long before me. He didn't have any room to judge.

A smirk slowly pulled at Willow's lips. "I did," she admitted proudly. I should have known she'd say something like that. Willow really had no shame. None at all. Not that I was ashamed of what we had done. I just...Oh, who was I kidding? I didn't care if all my friends knew. "And it was freaking amazing. This guy is awesome."

Tommy and Adrian whooped, causing several students at other tables to look at us strangely. Adrian held up his hand. "Way to go, bro! High five!"

I slapped his hand, grinning.

"Wait a minute," Adrian said, holding up his hands. "Willow, how do you really know he was that good? He's your first, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"What do you have to compare him to?"

Willow shook her head. "Whatever. It doesn't matter that he was my first. It was still amazing. So, yes, we had sex. It's not like we're the only ones in the group." She looked pointedly at Adrian and Alexis.

The couple shrugged. "We took that step a few months ago," Adrian said.

Willow grinned. "I know. Your girlfriend told me the next day. Anyway, to change the topic from my sex life, Stryk and I had an idea. For a graduation party. Well, kind of a party."

Tommy looked interested. "Oh, yeah? What's that?"

"We're totally going to have a _Star Wars_ movie marathon. And we'll probably play the Five Kingdoms for a little while after that. We are going to stay up all night. It's going to be epic."

Alexis shook her head, but she was grinning. "I don't know that Tamara and Michelle will go for that, but I'm game. I love _Star Wars_."

"Well, they're welcome to come if they want, but that's our plan. Mac is going to let us do it at her house," Willow explained. "I already asked her about it. We're thinking of meeting up there about nine or so, if you guys are doing stuff with your families first. I know Stryker's having a big family barbecue or dinner or something. Like he usually does."

Ty looked a little surprised. He gave me a questioning look. "Really? Your mom's okay with that? I'm sure we'll get pretty loud, and isn't Kensley still pretty young? She's only a year and a half old. I doubt your parents will want us keeping her up half the night."

"Dude, the theater room is soundproof," I reminded him. "They won't even know we're there. We'll be fine."

Tommy shrugged. "Sounds good to me. I can't wait to be done with high school. What better way to end it than binge-watch movies?"

"Did you finally decide what you wanted to do after high school?" Alexis asked him.

"I'm not going to college, that's for sure. I think I'm going to travel for a bit. I really want to go see Australia."

"Ty? What about you?"

"I'm going to Avalon University. I've got a full-ride scholarship. I'm going to be a software engineer."

"He wants to get hired at Camelot Corporation," I said, teasing slightly. It wasn't like I didn't think he could get a job there. I knew he could. Heck, Pappy would probably hire him in an instant. Pappy knew how smart Ty was, and how good he was with computers.

Willow elbowed me. "You shouldn't be teasing him, Mister-I-want-to-be-a-famous-actor. Isn't that what your dad does for a living? Software engineering?"

"Well, yeah."

"And he makes a heck of a lot of money."

"True."

"So don't tease Ty."

I saluted her. "Yes, ma'am."

Willow just rolled her eyes.


	43. Forty-Three: Shark Attack

**MAY 10**

I frowned as I got out of my car – I'd just gotten back from visiting Jon, Charlie, and Roman – and heard a bunch of yelling and laughter coming from my backyard. As far as I knew, nothing was going on today. I wasn't sure why there was so much commotion. I made my way back there, and then stopped and stared at what I found.

Mom and Dad were sitting in two deck chairs, watching what was going on. Kensley was sitting in Dad's lap, though she was obviously trying to escape. There were several hula hoops scattered throughout the yard. Bex, Jax, and Cay were all standing in various hoops, watching my girlfriend carefully.

Willow stood in the middle, eyeing each of them in turn. She looked ready to pounce. She stared at Bexley. Then, suddenly, she yelled, "Shark attack!" and lunged toward Cayson, who obviously wasn't expecting it.

Bexley and Jaxson both ran toward different hula hoops.

They both made it safely.

Cayson tried, but Willow managed to scoop him up into her arms. She pretended to chew on his arm, and then set him back down on the ground. Cayson then proceeded to give a pretty convincing performance of a man slowly bleeding to death. A very vocal performance.

"My arm!" he cried out, clutching the arm that Willow had pretended to bite. "The shark ate my arm! I'm dying! I'm dying! Save me!"

Mom shook her head. "Sorry, Cay!" she called. "You're already dead. The shark killed you. Get over here! You're out of the game."

Cayson dramatically pulled himself with one arm through the grass to sit near Mom's feet.

Willow, catching sight of me, smiled and waved, but she didn't move toward me.

I moved toward where my parents were sitting. "Go get 'em, tiger shark!" I hollered.

She snorted, shaking her head. "That was corny!" Then she looked at Bex and Jax. "Shark attack!" she said.

I leaned against the back of Dad's chair, watching as Jaxson and Bexley raced toward new hula hoops, trying to escape Willow. They both managed to make it there safely. "How in the world did anybody get _Bexley_ to play _Shark_ _Attack_?" I wondered. Twelve-year-old Bexley didn't enjoy these kinds of silly games, so she said. Well, she wouldn't be twelve for another eleven days. But whatever. Either way, she wasn't a fan of childish games.

Dad shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure, but I think your girlfriend might have bribed her with some cash."

"Ah. That would do it. How long have they been playing?"

"About an hour," Mom replied. "Willow stood by shortly after you left for Jon's. She wasn't sure how long you'd be over there, so she decided to entertain your siblings. Cayson was the first shark. Then Bexley. Jaxson hasn't managed to be a shark yet."

I grinned, my attention back on the game. Willow may have caught Cayson, but I was pretty sure that that was mostly because he wanted to get caught. He really loved putting on a show. And he absolutely loved pretending to die. Bexley and Jaxson were doing a really good job of evading her, it looked like. They were both fast runners. And they were both very competitive, so they weren't about to let themselves be caught just for the chance to pretend to die dramatically.

"I like her. She feels like part of the family," Dad said. "And the twins absolutely adore her. They're always asking when she's going to be coming over."

"I think Jaxson might even have a little crush on her," Mom stated. "So be careful, Stryk. You might have some competition. And I'm pretty sure that Kenny has decided that Willow is her favorite person in the entire world."

As if to second that thought statement, Kensley clapped her hands together and said, "Wiwow."

I chuckled. She really did like my girlfriend. Whenever Willow came over, Kensley always ran straight to her. And if someone was holding her, she'd try to get down about as fast as she could.

"Even Bexley likes her," Dad told me. "And you know how reserved she is about people."

"Oh, I know." Bex was a lot like Mom in that regard. It usually took her a while to approve of someone. A _long_ while. She hadn't liked Brittany at all. She might have liked Mal, given a little more time. But Willow…She loved Willow. "You know what she told me two days ago, though? She said that if I ever broke up with Willow, she would kick my butt for being such an idiot. And she told me that I better marry Willow someday so they could be sisters. If I don't marry her I will get, and I quote, 'my butt kicked so hard I will forget my own name.' Those exact words."

Dad stared at me. "_Bexley_ said that? My daughter Bexley?"

I nodded. "Yep. She sure did. She looked pretty serious about it, too."

Mom whistled. "That's pretty impressive."

"I know." I looked back at my girlfriend. She had _almost_ caught Bex.

So close, yet so far. I dropped my keys into Kensley's hands. "Here, Kenny. You can play with these for a minute. I've got a shark to help."

Smirking slightly, I yelled, "Shark attack!" and ran toward Jaxson. Willow went for Bexley in the same moment. We didn't even have to say anything. We just knew what the other person would do.

"That's cheating!" Bex yelled. "There can only be one shark!"

But Willow and I weren't listening. We were too busy tackling Bex and Jax to the ground.

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**Guys, seriously. I'm starting to wonder if you all hate this story now. Do you not like Willow and Stryker together? I have no idea. All my reviewers have gone strangely silent again...I do like to hear what you guys think. **

**_I'm_ really enjoying where this story is going, but I have no idea how you guys feel about it. By the way, I love this particular chapter. Willow is so great with his siblings.**


	44. Forty-Four: Graduation

**MAY 13**

I smiled as I approached my family after the ceremony. Willow was right beside me, heading toward her own mother, who was standing by my mom. They had cheered very loudly for both of us when our names had been called.

Mom flicked the tassel on my cap when I reached her. There were _tears_ in her eyes. Actual tears. "I'm so proud of you, Stryker. I can't believe you're old enough to be a high school _graduate_."

"I know. It's crazy. I can hardly believe it myself."

"It seems like it wasn't that long ago that _I_ was graduating, and you were sitting in the audience, loving the noise."

"You really did love the noise," Mamie added.

Kathy pulled me and Willow into a tight hug, ruffling our hair.

"Mom," Willow complained, pulling away. "Come on, you're embarrassing me in front of my boyfriend and his family. Stop it."

Kathy rolled her eyes. "I'd believe that if you ever actually _got_ embarrassed."

Willow didn't argue. Her mom had a point. Willow very, very rarely got embarrassed.

Pappy smiled and lightly punched my arm. "Well, Stryker. You're officially done with high school. How do you feel about that?"

I grinned. "I'm so freaking happy." It wasn't that I'd hated high school. Most of the time, I didn't mind it at all. But I was still happy to be done with it. "I'm glad to be moving onto that next step. And Willow and I have finally found a place to rent. It's nice, with two bedrooms. The bathroom's pretty big, and so is the kitchen. The best part is that it's only two blocks away from the university."

"I'm still not thrilled about you two living together," Kathy informed us.

Willow rolled her eyes. This wasn't the first time she and her mom had had this conversation. Kathy wasn't exactly disapproving of our plans. But she wasn't exactly approving of them, either. I think she was mostly resigned about it. "Mom. Don't worry so much. We're being safe."

Jaxson and Cayson both frowned at me as Bexley pretended to gag. "Safe about what?" Cay asked, cocking his head to the side.

Mom arched an eyebrow at me, smirking slightly. She totally had an evil streak in her heart. "Yeah, Stryker. Safe about what?"

Dad gave her a look. "Mac," was all he said.

I shook my head. I knew it wouldn't do Dad any good to try to reprimand her or anything. "We're being safe about our house, Cay," I said.

"Oh, okay." And that was good enough for him.

Jon pulled me into a hug, setting Roman on the ground. My youngest half-brother waddled up me and hugged my legs. "Congrats, champ. I'm proud of you."

Charlie gave both me _and_ Willow a hug. "We're proud of both of you. Now, let's get some pictures of the new graduates. Why don't we start with some of just Willow and Stryker?"

And so for the next hour or so, we took pictures. There were several of me and Willow taken. I think my mom even managed to snap one when I tried to sneak a kiss with Willow, while I thought everyone was distracted by Kensley doing something cute. Then we took some individual pictures, then some with Kathy. My parents. My grandparents. Jon and Charlie. _All_ my siblings.

At one point, as we were getting ready for a picture with all of my siblings, Willow leaned over and whispered, "I love that you have such a big, amazing family, but my feet are absolutely killing me. Do you think we're almost done?"

Before I'd bene able to answer, Kensley had somehow ended up in Willow's arms, and Willow was distracted.

_Finally_ we were finished with all the pictures. "So I can take the stupid graduation gown off?" I asked, already unzipping it.

Mamie laughed. "You remind me of your mother, at her graduation."

I just grinned and slipped out of the gown. Willow was doing the same beside me. "So what's the plan?" I asked. "We're doing a dinner, right?"

Mom nodded. "At our house. We'll head over there now. We're just having a barbecue. And your friends are coming over at nine, right?"

I nodded.

Mom pinched my nose, probably just to be a brat. "Let's go celebrate our graduates."

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**I'm sorry my chapters are getting shorter. Really, really sorry. I'm gonna try to make sure that the next one is longer. **

**Thanks for all the reviews! I'm glad you guys are liking it. I was worried that you'd all started to hate it, so I'm glad that's not the case. I was even thinking about threatening to break them up, even though I hate it when authors do stuff like that. **


	45. Forty-Five: Getting Domestic

**He, he. I had fun writing this chapter.**

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**JUNE 29**

"Your parents are totally amazing," Willow told me, as we wandered through the mall, hand in hand.

I had to agree with her. We were moving into our rental house the last week of July, and my parents had offered to help us furnish it. So they'd sent us down to the mall, with a pre-loaded credit card and Mom's truck, to get started. We were looking for smaller pieces today. We'd order some of the larger items later in the month, and have them delivered directly to the house.

"Where should we start?" I asked. We were making our way toward the biggest home design store in the mall. I was hoping that it would have everything that we were looking for. I'd rather just get as much of it done in one store in one trip, if I could.

"Um, the bathroom. We need a shower curtain, towels, and accessories. The whole nine yards. We can't mount anything on the walls, right?"

"No, but the place did have some decent shelving, so it shouldn't be too big a deal. Although if we want to put any kind of pictures or anything, we'll have to be creative. But we'll make it work."

We walked into the home design store, Willow grabbing a cart. We made our way toward the bath section. I didn't usually go into places like this, but it was the best store to get what we needed.

"How do you feel about doing turquoise in the bathroom?" Willow questioned.

I shrugged. I really didn't care too much about what color themes we did. The walls of our rental house were white, so we could do whatever we wanted. And I was totally fine with Willow taking charge on that one. "Fine with me. As long as it's not too girly." I wasn't really worried about that, though. Willow wasn't really into the super girly stuff.

She smirked and teased, "You mean you don't want giant flowers everywhere? And lots of pink?"

"Uh, no."

"What about this one?" She pointed to a turquoise and grey, chevron-striped, shower curtain.

I made a face. "I'm not really a fan."

"Okay. This one?" The next one she pointed at was turquoise, with a dark brown stripe at the top and the bottom. Willow shook her head before I could even say anything. "Nope. You don't like it. I can tell."

She looked at a few more before she finally went, "Aha." She pulled out a shower curtain horizontal turquoise and white stripes. "This one's simple and very gender-neutral. What do you think?"

"I like it. Let's get the accessories next."

We found a nice set of turquoise-colored glass accessories to match, and turquoise bath towels. Super soft bath towels.

Willow sent me a small smirk. "You know what room we should shop for next?" she asked.

"What?"

"The bedroom, of course. Come on." And she led me to the _very_ large bedroom section. There were several beds on display, some smaller than normal with bedspreads and sheets and stuff. Others were just the mattresses.

Willow plopped onto one of them, sighing as she laid back. "We need a mattress. Queen-sized. And, since we borrowed your mom's truck, we can totally get one today. We don't have to wait."

I arched an eyebrow at her. She was pretending to make a snow angel on the mattress. "I thought we were only getting the little stuff today? Where would we store a mattress for a month?"

"Your garage, duh. Your mom said there was enough space for a few of the big items in there. We could probably pick out a bed-frame, too, as long as we kept it in the box. It should fit."

"You talked to my mom about buying beds? When?"

Willow's smirk was back. "Yep. Just before we left today, while you were finishing up your shower. Now come lay down on this thing. Tell me what you think. I'm not sure I like the innerspring."

Shaking my head, I laid down beside her. "Yeah," I agreed. "This isn't doing it for me."

We tried several other mattresses, not really liking any of them. And then…

"Oh my gosh," Willow sighed. "I didn't really think there'd be a difference between memory foam and latex foam, but I love this latex stuff."

"Mmm-hmm," I agreed, settling on the bed. I closed my eyes in bliss. "This is super nice."

"Ah," a familiar voice said, "look at the lovebirds, getting all domestic. Isn't that cute?"

I opened my eyes to see my best friend and his girlfriend standing nearby. I lazily kicked at Adrian, and missed. "Shut up," I said.

Willow propped herself on her elbows. "Adrian, I don't really think that you have any room to talk. The only reason that I can think of for you to even be in a home design store is if you're getting a little domestic yourself. Am I right, Alexis?"

Alexis grinned, chuckling slightly. She nodded. "One-hundred percent. We're shopping for our own apartment. And Adrian is feeling very domestic today."

Adrian glared at her. "Traitor," he muttered.

She ignored his glare. "By the way," she said to me and my girlfriend, "there's a really good sale on a lot of the kitchen stuff. We got an awesome microwave for almost fifty percent off. And there's some super nice sets of pots and pans. Just so you know. Have fun! We'll see you guys later."

Then she practically dragged Adrian toward the living room stuff.

Willow grinned. "I love how she doesn't put up with any of his crap."

"She puts him in his place."

"Let's find a nice frame for this mattress, because this is totally the perfect mattress. And then we need to find a bedspread and sheets and stuff. I'm thinking...green. We should do green in the bedroom."

"Sounds good to me."


	46. Forty-Six: The Future

**Sorry I didn't get this chapter up yesterday. I worked a graveyard shift last night, and another short shift during the day. So when I wasn't working, I was sleeping! But here it is. Hope you enjoy it.**

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**JULY 12**

Willow grinned as she sat next to my stepmom. Roman ran to her, climbing into her lap. All of my siblings loved Willow. And Willow was pretty good with my siblings, which I was so grateful for. That was another thing that should have been a big clue for me that it wouldn't have worked with Brittany. She didn't like kids. I complained a lot about obnoxious siblings, but I actually did like kids. I wanted some of my own someday. Not five, like my mom. Definitely not five. But maybe two or three.

"I can't believe your baby brother is _two_. And I missed his birthday party last month. I wished I could have made it. He was, what, six months old when we first met, in the hospital?" Willow asked. "And I didn't meet him until he was about nine months old. But still. It really doesn't seem like that much time has passed."

I nodded. "Sounds about right. I can't believe I've known you for a year and a half already. Time goes by _way_ too fast. And Roman is growing up crazy fast. He can talk up a storm when he wants to, though he doesn't seem to be very chatty today."

"Too fast," Charlie said, smiling fondly at her son. "I don't like it. I want him to stay cute and little like this forever."

Jon shook his head. "Nah. I want him to grow up so I can teach him how to skateboard and then we can go skateboarding together."

"You can do that with Stryker."

Jon sighed sadly. "No, I can't. Stryker's gotten really good on a skateboard, but he's going off to college soon, and he'll be living four hours away. We won't be able to just...hang out whenever."

I shrugged. "What can I say? I really like University of Albion's drama program. I've heard it's one of the best in the country. And they've got a good nursing program for Willow. It's a win-win situation. Pappy's not too thrilled about me breaking the family tradition, but he's the only one who feels that way. Nobody else really cares."

Charlie's gaze flickered from me to Willow. "So. What _exactly_ are your plans for the future, you two? Will you guys get married?" she asked, a small glint in her eyes. "Have kids? What? Are you even thinking that far ahead yet?"

Willow and I both shrugged. It wasn't that we didn't know what our plans for the future were. We'd talked about it, a little bit. We hadn't made any definite plans yet, but we'd talked. We both knew what we wanted. "Eventually, we'll get married," I answered. "I don't know when, but at some point in the future."

"And we do want kids," Willow added, playing some sort of clapping game with Roman. "Two or three, but no more than that."

Charlie grinned. "Two is a good number. Jon and I are thinking we might have one more at some point."

"How's the furnishing for your place coming along?" Jon asked us.

"Good," Willow replied. "I think we have everything we need, except the big appliances. We'll order those right before we move, and have them delivered to the rental house. But we've got most of the other stuff already."

"What day are you moving in?" Charlie wanted to know.

"The last week of this month. But we don't have to pay any July rent at all, which is really nice," I said.

Jon looked impressed. "Yeah it is. How'd you manage that?"

I shrugged, grinning. "They were a bit desperate to get it rented, not that there's anything wrong with it. We went and checked it all out before we signed anything. The owners put it on the market a little late, and most students already had dorm rooms, which are a little cheaper. This place is actually a little bit expensive, but Willow and I wanted the privacy or a house instead of a dorm room. And we're not thrilled with the idea of an apartment. And since Mom and Dad are paying for my tuition, Mamie and Pappy offered to help us with rent every month. So we're covered."

"Arthur and Merlin can certainly afford it," Jon said.

"They can. I'm certainly not complaining. This will give Willow and me a chance to save up for our own kids. Mom and Dad were smart and started a college fund for each of us kids. I think Willow and I will do the same for ours."

I'd certainly been lucky. Mom had once told me that she had considered giving me up for adoption, when she first found out she was pregnant, because she thought I might have a better life with someone else. She wasn't sure that being raised by a teen mom was the best for me. I was glad she hadn't. My life had been great. Not perfect, but pretty dang close. Even though she'd had me as a teen, she'd made a good life for herself and for me. And Mamie and Pappy had helped her out. They hadn't kicked her out, like she'd first thought they would. I couldn't have asked for a better life. I just hoped that I could provide the same kind of life for my future kids that I'd had.


	47. Forty-Seven: Packing

**I know that it's been forever since I've updated. I am so sorry. Things got crazy, and I've hit a bit of a writer's block. It might be a little while before I post more. Again, I'm so so sorry. I do plan to finish this fanfic, I promise. Thank you for being so patient with me. I will tell you all now that I plan to go to fifty-five chapters. Unless I get new ideas. But again, it might be a little while before I put up a new chapter. I haven't abandoned you guys. I just got crazy busy. Sorry again.**

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**JULY 24**

I closed up the box with all of my DVDs. Willow and I were moving into our new home the next day, and I was just about finished with all of my packing.

There was a knock at my door. I turned to see my mother walking into my room. "Hey, Mom," I said.

She gave me a slightly sad smile. "Hey, little man. How's it going?"

"Good. I'm just about done. I've just got a few more things to pack up, mostly stuff that I'll need tonight."

"I can't believe that you're moving out and going to college. You're not my little baby anymore."

"Sorry?" I said, not sure what exactly I was apologizing for. Growing up? It wasn't like I could change that.

She came forward and gave me a quick but tight hug. My mom never really gave long hugs. "I don't really like seeing you all grown up. Don't get me wrong. I'm incredibly proud of you and the man that you've grown into. You're making some really good choices in your life."

"Even though I'm moving in with my girlfriend."

She rolled her eyes, flapping her hand at me. "Please. You two are in a very committed relationship. It's not like you're just rushing into this without any idea of what you're doing. Besides, I had a baby in high school. You're already off to a better start than I was. You know what you're doing." She ruffled my hair. "I sure am going to miss you, though."

I grinned. "You're just upset because you're losing your free babysitter," I teased. I knew that wasn't why she'd miss me, but I couldn't resist teasing her.

Mom flicked my ear. "You little brat. No. Bex is old enough to babysit now, so it's not a big deal, the babysitting. I'm going to miss _you_." She sat down on my couch with a sigh. "You know, I knew this day was coming, but it doesn't make it any easier. You've been such big part of my life for so long. It's going to be really weird to not see you around here every day."

I plopped down beside her. "It will be weird," I agreed. "And I am going to miss everybody. Bex, Jax, Cay, Kenny. You and Dad. Jon, Charlie, and Roman. Mamie and Pappy. Pretty much our whole family is here in Camelot. And we've always been so close."

"Yeah. Our family is kind of crazy like that, staying so close together and actually hanging out a lot. But you will be closer to Dad's sisters and parents. Ealdor is about three hours from here. But I think it's only an hour from Albion, isn't it?"

I nodded. "It's on the way to Albion, which is nice. We'll probably stop by for a bit to visit with Grandma and Grandpa tomorrow. I think Dad's looking forward to it." Dad had offered to come with us, which was good because it might have been a little difficult to get all of our stuff there otherwise. Willow and I were going to drive the rental truck, towing Willow's car. Dad was going to drive my car. "Willow's excited, too. She hasn't really had a chance to get to know Dad's side of the family well."

"That will be nice. I know your grandparents will love to have you closer. I want you to Skype with me _every_ weekend. You got that?"

I grinned. "Yeah, Mom. I'll do that. And I'll even call you every single night."

"Stryker. Don't be sarcastic."

"Sorry. I will try to call you every few nights, though. I promise. And I'll definitely call after my first day of classes, to let you know how they go."

She ruffled my hair again, grinning slightly. "Thanks, little man. And make sure you come visit us as much as you can. And bring Willow with you. Your siblings aren't going to know what to do with themselves without you and your girlfriend around every day."

"They'll get used to it."

"Yes, but it'll take some time. And please make sure that you test –"

"My bloodsugar before every meal," I interrupted, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. Barely. "And before I go to sleep every night. I know, Mom. I've had diabetes for a year and a half now. I think I know what I'm doing."

Mom sighed, shaking her head. She grinned ruefully at me. "I know. I'm sorry, Stryker. I never thought I would be such a worrier. But I can't seem to help it. I know you can take care of yourself. You've been doing a great job, keeping your bloodsugars under control. I still worry. And I hate that."

"I know. But trust me, I'll be fine. Willow is never going to let me forget the important stuff or slack off. She'd totally kick my butt. I'll be in good hands. I've already got all my prescriptions moved to a pharmacy in Albion. And my records switched to a new doctor there. I just have to schedule a new patient visit with him. I'm good. I've got everything set up."

Mom didn't answer. She just pressed a kiss to the top of my head.

I narrowed my eyes at her, a thought occurring to me. "But that doesn't mean you get to call Willow to check up on me!" I added. I wasn't sure if she would do that or not…

Mom widened her blue eyes, attempting to look innocent. Yeah, right. I was pretty sure that my mother didn't know the meaning of the word innocent. "Who, _me_?"

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**Oh, and by the way, this is _probably_ the last fanfic I'll do in this series. If I do another one, it wouldn't really have Merthur. Like, at all. So I don't think I'll do anymore. I haven't had any ideas so far. However, if my readers are supportive of it, I could try to think of something for a sequel to Stryker's story. I'm on the fence about it. Just let me know what your thoughts are about it. Please review.**


	48. Forty-Eight: Moving In

**Sorry this chapter is so short. But here you go. Another one. Again, please let me know how you guys would feel about me doing a sequel to this one. I've only gotten one response on that so far. If I did do a sequel, it really wouldn't have Merthur, which is why I'm hesitant to do it.**

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**JULY 25**

I followed Dad into my new house, each of us carrying a box. These were the last two boxes of stuff that needed to be moved in. Willow was already inside, starting to unpack the living room stuff. "We need music," she said to me. "Unpacking is less obnoxious when there's good music to unpack to."

"Like what?" I asked her. "That hippie crap you listen to?"

She glared at me. "It's not hippie crap, Stryker. It's Indie pop."

"Whatever. I don't care what you listen to. You know I'm just giving you a hard time." I wasn't a big fan of Indie pop, so I always teased her about it. But I didn't mind her music. Not really. It wasn't my favorite, but it didn't really bother me, either.

I looked over at Dad, who was watching our little exchange with a grin. "Are you staying for dinner, Dad?"

"Sure. Wait a minute." He narrowed his eyes at me. "You want me to cook, don't you?"

"Well…" I trailed off.

Dad rolled his eyes, but he was grinning. "You're going to have to learn how to cook at some point, Stryker." Which was not a fair thing of him to say at all. I knew how to cook. I might not be a master chef, but I could throw together some decent meals. He was just a better cook than me. "Now that you're on your own."

"I'm not on my own. I've got Willow." I bit the inside of my cheek, trying to keep myself from smiling. I knew I wasn't going to get away with that comment. I was going to get into trouble in about three...two...one...

Sure enough, my girlfriend folded her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes even further at me. "You better not be implying what I think you're implying. Just because I'm a woman doesn't mean I'll be doing all the cooking."

I gave her a terrified look. "I would never do that. Your cooking would probably kill me." Okay, she wasn't a bad cook. I just loved to tease her.

I think I was starting to act like my mom. I was in an ornery mood today.

She bumped my shoulder. "Brat," she said. "You sound way too much like your mother today."

I sighed. "I know. I don't know what's going on. Sorry I'm being bratty."

"I'll think about forgiving you," she told me. She pulled out her Ipod and started looking for the music that she wanted to play.

Dad shook his head as he made his way toward the kitchen. "It might be better to order a pizza or something. Did you guys even pack any food stuff at all?"

I shrugged. "Not really. We'll stock up this week. Pizza sounds good for tonight. I'll buy."

"Nonsense. I'll buy. Consider it a house-warming gift."

My dad was totally amazing. He really was.

"Hey, Dad?"

He glanced back at me. "Yeah, buddy?"

"Thanks for helping us move. We really appreciate it."

Dad smiled. "Of course. Now, why don't you two keep unpacking, and I'll go order the pizza. Any special requests?"

Willow and I looked at each other, then said, "Supreme."

"Sounds good to me." Dad disappeared into the kitchen.

I looked back at my girlfriend. "Can you believe that we're here? In our own place?"

"It's crazy. Let's get this TV set up, because I want to be able to watch my shows tonight."

I smirked at her. "I thought you wanted to get the bedroom unpacked as soon as possible?"

She rolled her eyes. "Not with your _dad_ here. That's weird."

I nodded, seeing her point. More than likely, we'd get distracted as soon as we set up the bed.

_Way_ awkward with my dad around.


End file.
